Day 1
'If you see the poor oppressed in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things; for one official is eyed by a higher one, and over them both are others higher still. The increase from the land is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.
Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless.
As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owners except to feast their eyes on them?
The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether they eat little or much, but as for the rich, their abundance permits them no sleep. '
Ecclesiastes 5:8-12
Watch this segment of this week’s Going Deeper podcast episode before continuing today’s devotional.
The Teacher reminds us of the corrupt system and the core problem of envy inside of us: whoever loves money never has enough. He also notices that as goods increase, so do the people who consume them: every raise brings new obligations, and every new possession needs someone to manage it. While abundance keeps the rich awake with worries of financial responsibility, the laborer sleeps sweetly, enjoying what little or much they have to eat and enjoy. Has the stress of wealth management or financial responsibility become the thing that keeps you from enjoying it, or from resting at all?
Action: Before you pray or read today, write on a card what you were planning to say to God, turn it face down, and sit without speaking for two full minutes before you say anything back. Listen to what He has to say before you express what you have written down!
Day 2
'I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners, or wealth lost through some misfortune, so that when they have children there is nothing left for them to inherit. Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb, and as everyone comes, so they depart. They take nothing from their toil that they can carry in their hands.
This too is a grievous evil:
As everyone comes, so they depart, and what do they gain, since they toil for the wind? All their days they eat in darkness, with great frustration, affliction and anger. '
Ecclesiastes 5:13-17
Watch this segment of this week’s Going Deeper podcast episode before continuing today’s devotional.
Wealth hoarded until it harms the one holding it, or wealth lost in one bad turn so the children inherit nothing is a sickening evil according to the Teacher. Under the sun, the toil for wealth is like shepherding the wind; we can close our hands around it, but when we open our fingers there's nothing there. What possessions are you gripping tightly right now, and how much frustration, worry, or anger is the grip costing you?
Action: Close your hand around your wallet or phone and, for one minute, name out loud everything you're afraid of losing. Then open your fingers, lay it on the table, and pray Job's words over it: "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised" (Job 1:21).
Day 3
'This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot. Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God. They seldom reflect on the days of their life, because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart.'
Ecclesiastes 5:18-20
Watch this segment of this week’s Going Deeper podcast episode before continuing today’s devotional.
The Teacher’s advice: eat, drink, and find satisfaction in our toil under the sun during the few days God gives us. He calls this our portion, the piece God Himself has handed us. Wealth is a gift from God, and so is the ability to enjoy it, yet most of us spend far more energy chasing the first gift than receiving the second. You may have a retirement plan, but do you have an enjoyment plan for what God has already put in your hands?
Action: On an index card, write an enjoyment plan for this week: one meal, one person, and one ordinary hour you'll receive as your portion, with a day written beside each. Do the first one today, and open the gift!
Day 4
'I have seen another evil under the sun, and it weighs heavily on mankind: God gives some people wealth, possessions and honor, so that they lack nothing their hearts desire, but God does not grant them the ability to enjoy them, and strangers enjoy them instead. This is meaningless, a grievous evil.
A man may have a hundred children and live many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity and does not receive proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. It comes without meaning, it departs in darkness, and in darkness its name is shrouded. Though it never saw the sun or knew anything, it has more rest than does that man— even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place?
Everyone’s toil is for their mouth, yet their appetite is never satisfied. What advantage have the wise over fools? What do the poor gain by knowing how to conduct themselves before others? Better what the eye sees than the roving of the appetite. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. '
Ecclesiastes 6:1-9
Watch this segment of this week’s Going Deeper podcast episode before continuing today’s devotional.
The Teacher’s heaviest is against never enjoying wealth. A stillborn child, the Teacher says, has more rest than this man, even if he lives two thousand years. The Teacher's way out is to prize what the eye sees over the roving of the appetite, since following the appetite is only another attempt to shepherd the wind. Which gift in front of you are you leaving unopened: the work in your hands, the people at your table, or the ordinary days God has already given you?
Challenge: Find one thing you've been saving for someday (the good dishes, an unused gift card, the candle you never light) and open or use it today with someone you love. Before you do, read 2 Corinthians 8:9 aloud and thank Jesus, who was rich, became poor for your sake, and gave everything so that you could become rich!