The teacher of Ecclesiastes has been giving his instructions so that we will not waste the time of our lives that God has given to us. The teacher has been trying to find out what gain we get from all of our effort and work on earth. So he is exploring different areas of life, helping us see through the noise and the foolishness, so that we can make wise decisions. The teacher now turns his attention to contentment and examines the problems in life that come from not being content with our lives and what we have. Why are we not satisfied with life? Why do we lack contentment? What is going on in us and what is going on in the world that keeps us from being satisfied? Open your copies of God’s word to Ecclesiastes 5-6.
Wealth Is Not Satisfying (Ecclesiastes 5:8-11)
The teacher begins by taking a wide view of life. He looks at ruler and government officials and notes a constant problem. Do not be surprised at the oppression of the poor and the perversion of justice and righteousness. There is not going to be justice where there is greed. Officials are going to be taking people money and you will find that all the way up the government ladder. Officials protect other officials and lower officials are committing the same wickedness as those above them. Greed becomes the motive for oppression and perversion. People get hurt when our only concern is making more. So what is the problem with discontentment?
Look at verse 10. The one who loves money will never be satisfied with his money. The one who loves wealth will never be satisfied with his income. There is never a point where you will say, “This is enough.” Now we do not want to believe this. We all have in our minds that there is some income point and possession status in which we would take our ease and proclaim that we have enough. But this will never be true. Loving money means you are always going to want more money. You will never think you have enough. When one of the wealthiest men in American history, John D. Rockefeller, was asked, “How much money is enough?” his response was a very honest, “Just a little bit more.” All of us think we just need a little bit more. I don’t need a lot. I just need a little bit more. But I want you to do an exercise to prove this truth for yourself. You are making more money than when you started working. I remember when I first started working as a teenager and I was making $5.15 an hour. After college, when I was in a preaching training program, I was making $2000 a month. When I made more, did I think that this is all I need or did I think I needed a little bit more? How about you? I can assume that you agree. You made less money in the past and you make more money now. But still we think that what we need is just a little bit more. We are being taught to put out of our minds that the answer to our lack of contentment is having more. There is not a level of wealth in which you are going to say that this is enough. More wealth and more possessions do not make you content. This often how we look at it. More will make us content. But the teacher tells us that it does not work this way.
In verse 11 the teacher tells us one of the reasons this is true. Look at what the teacher says in verse 11. When goods increase, those who eat them increase. The teacher observes that the more we make, the more we spend. The more we make, the more there are people to spend what we make. We can see this truth in so many ways in our lives. If you have children, what has happened to all your pay raises and promotions? The money has been spent on them. Kids are expensive and they only get more and more expensive. They are not getting cheaper and cheaper. They start driving and need insurance and then have to go to college. I thought diapers were too expensive but then I had to pay for jeans and shoes for teenagers. Further, when you have more, then there are more people with their hand out asking you to give them money. There are going to be more people asking to spend the money you made. When you make more then those who have less think you should give them what you have.
But let us not blame everyone else for our lack of contentment. Yes, your family will consume more as you increase your family. Yes, you will have people with their hand out when you make more money. But you know what else is true? You will spend more money. I laughed when the NBA players went on strike against the owners, arguing over millions of dollars. Patrick Ewing was the representative of the players. When he was asked why these millionaires were on strike to make even more, he gave a very honest answer. “We make a lot of money, but we spend a lot of money.” Now we can point the finger at them and say that it is ridiculous. But we have all proven in our lives that this is true. When we make more money, we change our spending habits. Things that we would not have purchased or could not have purchased when we were poorer we are now able to purchase and we do. The teacher is not criticizing or condemning this. He is not saying that since you were eating microwave noodles in college that you must still eat those today. That is not his point at all. The point is to get us to see that having more will never cause us to be satisfied. You will not be content just because you make more and have more. There will always be more to have. There will always be something nicer. You are going to buy a nicer car, nicer clothes, better food, and take better trips. You are going to spend what you make so don’t think that you are going to be content in the future if you just had a little more. You are just going to spend that too. The Proverbs teacher said it like this:
Do not weary yourself to gain wealth; Stop dwelling on it. When you set your eyes on it, it is gone. For wealth certainly makes itself wings like an eagle that flies toward the heavens. (Proverbs 23:4-5 NASB)
This is so true. You can watch your money go through your fingers. You have more, but that will not make you content.
Wealth Causes Problems (Ecclesiastes 5:12-17)
In verse 12 the teacher tells us that having more does not make us sleep better. You will not have more rest by having more wealth. In fact, the teacher says that having more wealth only increases your worries. The more you have, the more you have to worry about. The more you have, the more problems you will have. The more you have, the more things can break. The more you have, the more that can be stolen from you. The more you have, the more you have to keep up with. Contentment is not found in having more. Rest and peace are not found in the accumulation of possessions. Rather, rest is found in the simplicity of life. The rest we are looking for is not found in having more stuff.
Not only does having more wealth and more possessions not give us rest, but these things only cause more problems. There is a pain that comes from having more. You see this in verses 13-14 where the teacher observes that those who have only hurt themselves by holding on to their riches. They have the potential to make bad decisions and lose all they have gained. Their efforts to hold on to their wealth cause them all kinds of pain in their relationships. We need to listen to this warning label:
But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. (1 Timothy 6:9-10 CSB)
Wealth does not satisfy. Wealth has the power to destroy. The pursuit of wealth has the power to pull you away from the faith. I cannot tell you how many people have stop loving the Lord with all their heart because of the pull of wealth and possessions. But no one thinks it is happening to them. No one thinks they are making this trade. No one think they are losing their fervor for Jesus while they work more to get more.
Now the teacher asks the important question in verse 16. What do you gain for all your effort? What are you getting for trying to have more? He will answer the question for you in verse 17. You will eat in darkness with great frustration, affliction, anger. What is the point? The point is that having more is not the answer you think it is. Making more is not going to give you what you hope it will. You are going to have more pain. But then think about what the teacher says in verse 15. All of this effort and all of this pain for something that you cannot take with you. We take nothing from all our toil. We enter the world naked and we leave the world in the same way. What are you getting for all your struggles? What are you getting from the pain of trying to get more and more? The answer is nothing of any lasting value.
Satisfaction Can Be Elusive (Ecclesiastes 6:1-12)
Now this brings us to the great reality check. Jump down to chapter 6. We will return to chapter 5 in just a moment for our conclusion. But look at the point the teacher makes in chapter 6. In verse 2 the teacher says that God can give you everything you want. You can have wealth, possessions, and honor. But there is something God may not give you. God may not give you the power to enjoy those things. We think that if we had everything we desire, then we will be content and satisfied. But here is a shocking truth. God is the one who gives us the ability to be satisfied with what we have. Now this should be self-evident. You can have all kinds of possessions and still have so many problems in life. God can allow you to have so much turmoil in your life that you will never be able to enjoy all you have. Further, as chapter 6 notes, God is in control of your life. You can have all these things and you will die and give it to someone else before you can enjoy any of it. In fact, God has made it that our appetite is never satisfied (cf. Ecclesiastes 6:7). God makes our lives this way if we would pay attention to it. When you eat a meal, you are satisfied for the rest of the week, right? No, you are not satisfied even for the rest of the day. You are going to need another meal. God is teaching us that our appetites are never satisfied. Satisfaction is elusive and you cannot have enough things or do enough things to be satisfied. Mick Jagger was right when he said, “I can’t get no satisfaction. ‘Cause I try and I try and I try and I try, I can’t get no satisfaction.”
Learning Contentment (Ecclesiastes 5:18-20)
What is the conclusion? What are we supposed to understand? Come back to Ecclesiastes 5:18 and notice that the teacher draws the important conclusion that he has drawn throughout this book. It is good to eat, drink, and find enjoyment in the few days of life that God has given to each of us. You need to enjoy what you have. You need to understand that your time on this earth is short. I will not spend much time here because we made these observations back in chapter 2.
Rather, I want to draw your attention to verse 19. It is God’s gift for you to be able to enjoy the blessings he has given to you. Do you see how the teacher has pushed the message of contentment even deeper into our hearts? In the prior lessons we were to learn that God is giver of every gift. Everything we have is from God and we are to be thankful to him for these things. But here is the next level understanding of contentment. God is the reason why you can even enjoy what you have. You can have so much and still not be able to enjoy it because God keeps that gift from you. Therefore, you will not be satisfied without God. You cannot be content in life without God. What you are missing in this life is not more stuff. What you are missing in this life is not more money. What you are missing in this life is more of God who will give you a satisfied spirit. This is the next level contentment that Paul says he has learned in Philippians 4:11-13. The writer of Hebrews teaches us the same message.
Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5 ESV)
You can be learn contentment when you learn that God has promised to be with you. God gives satisfaction. God is our contentment. Until we learn that God gives us rest and contentment, then we will never be satisfied. But when we turn our eyes to God and understand that he gives the power to enjoy this life, then we will put our faith in him and trust him to give us what we need to enjoy today. Satisfaction will always be elusive without God. If you are not satisfied right now, then you are learning that you are not in the right place in your life with God. Seek the Lord and find his power to rest in your life today.