It is also the gift of God whenever anyone eats, drinks, and enjoys all his efforts. Ecclesiastes 3:13
“You have a choice. You can keep your thousand dollars or trade it for what’s behind door number two where Carol Merrill is standing.” If I close my eyes, I can see the Let’s Make a Deal game-show set from the 1960s and ‘70s and hear Monty Hall’s voice challenging contestants to leave the security of what they’ve al- ready won, trading it for something they know nothing about, hiding behind door number two.
“Oh, Monty, Monty,” the confused contestants would blubber. “I don’t know what to do.” These poor folks had watched this quiz show enough to know that there might be a ski boat behind that door, or there might be a broken-down donkey, complete with an old hillbilly hat on his head. Bad choice.
Early in the book of Genesis is the account of a man who had the garden of Eden safely in his grasp and traded it for a taste of the fruit behind door number two. A donkey with lots of miles would have been a delight compared to what Adam received in exchange: “You will eat bread,” God decreed, “by the sweat of your brow” (Gn 3:19).
“No more free lunch, Adam. You want to eat? It’ll cost you.”
Millennia have passed since God’s curse on Adam’s free time. Kingdoms have come and gone. Some of God’s people have continued to grovel in their sin, but some of his people have discovered the euphoria of forgiveness and salvation hope through Jesus, by the blood of the Lamb. So, in today’s text, King Solomon is giving us another employment choice. “You can trade the sweat and toil behind door number two for the box Carol is bringing down the aisle right now.”
“I’ll take the box,” we say without thinking. “Purposeless work is not for me.”
As Monty lifts the top off the box we hear these words, “It is also the gift of God whenever anyone eats, drinks, and enjoys all his efforts” (Ec 3:13). Did you hear that? Work is a not a curse. Work is a blessing. Now that’s more like it.
Just for the fun of it, take a minute and create an imaginary pie chart of the hours in your average weekday. Slice it up in proportion to how you spend your time. Which slice is the biggest? Hmmm. It looks to be the work slice. Can you imagine that your gracious heavenly Father, from whom your life is given and lovingly sustained, would want you to dread the largest slice of your life? Not a chance.
This might be a day for you to carefully examine what you’re doing with your work. Are you fulfilled? Is the work of your hands satisfying to you? Do you feel God’s blessing on your labor?
If the answer is yes to these questions, you’ve got something to be thankful for. If it’s no, this may be a good time to take a careful look at what you’re doing. Work is a gift. It was not created to be a curse from the beginning, and despite the curse, according to this passage, God still regards work as a gift.
Monty Hall may have something for you in his pocket. If you want my advice, I’d trade for it. What do you have to lose?