The Monotony of Life on Earth

I’ve had this conversation with multiple people, and it usually happens on my “not so good” days. You know, the days where everything seems to be pointless and you constantly ask yourself, “why am I doing this?” or, “does this really matter?” It often seems that we work so we can pay our bills, buy new things, and enjoy the material things in life, but in order to enjoy those, we have to work more so we can maintain that lifestyle. While working more takes the time away that you need in order to enjoy the things you’re buying. Maybe this isn’t the case, but what about the feeling of always being a rut? It seems to be the cycle of life. Maybe your days seem something like this: wake up, do your Bible study, get ready for work, eat breakfast, work, take your kids to whatever practice they need to attend, come home, eat dinner, laundry, clean house, go to bed, wake up, do it all over again. This happens throughout the entire week and by the end of the week (the time when you have free time) you are completely wiped out and ready to sleep for 24 hours straight. It seems utterly monotonous and leaves you begging the question, what’s the point? Why should I continue living life this way?

Solomon states this very fact in Ecclesiastes 1 in his opening poem. He actually opens the poem with the same question, “What advantage does man have in all his work which he does under the sun?” The entire poem is a cyclical style which shows the nature of life. For example, verse five reads, “Also, the sun rises and the sun sets and hastening to its place it rises there again.” The whole idea is that, “there is nothing new under the sun.” It’s a message of the circular way of life. Have you ever wondered why fashion trends always seem to repeat themselves? It’s the way life is. Solomon continues throughout the book of Ecclesiastes to show his pursuits of finding meaning in life. As the most powerful and wealthy king of his time, he successfully pursued wealth, pleasures, work, and power. At the end, “…I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold all was vanity and striving after wind and there was not profit under the sun.”

So, why should we even work? There are two terms we want to look at and define. First, the phrase, “under the sun.” You see the phrase all throughout the book of Ecclesiastes. Essentially, the term means “without God.” Beyond the sun would be with God. The next term, vanity, used by Solomon throughout is often translated as meaningless. It’s explained as grasping after the wind. It’s meaningless to grasp after the wind for you will never be able to physically grasp the wind.

But, I must work! I have to pay my house payment, power and food at the very least. I’m called to provide for my family by God. And ironically, there is my answer. I don’t work for the sake of working. I don’t work to profit myself. In all things in life, I keep God in view. I don’t work “under the sun” but beyond the sun. I need to view life from the perspective of God Himself. Solomon comes to this conclusion, “…when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.” I work because I fear God and desire to obey His commandments. To work for the sake of possessions is meaningless.

So, the act of working isn’t meaningless or vanity, but why you work matters. Why are you doing the things you do? Is it out of a fear of God and a desire to obey His commands? For “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge…” Be wise and live a life fearing God. We do that by obeying His commands which we find solely in Scripture. Work looks different whenever living a life as explained. Sure, I go to work to pay my bills, but I also go to work dedicated to excellence to resemble the image of a God who does everything with perfect excellence (primary purpose). I work because God has made man with intention to work (Genesis 2:15). I work to fulfill my role as a husband, which would be to provide and take care of my family. As I strive to work in a way which honors the Lord, my motivations and reasons change.