Ecclesiastes 5:13-6:9 (New Living Translation)
13 There is another serious problem I have seen under the sun. Hoarding riches harms the saver. 14 Money is put into risky investments that turn sour, and everything is lost. In the end, there is nothing left to pass on to one’s children. 15 We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day we were born. We can’t take our riches with us.
16 And this, too, is a very serious problem. People leave this world no better off than when they came. All their hard work is for nothing—like working for the wind. 17 Throughout their lives, they live under a cloud—frustrated, discouraged, and angry.
18 Even so, I have noticed one thing, at least, that is good. It is good for people to eat, drink, and enjoy their work under the sun during the short life God has given them, and to accept their lot in life. 19 And it is a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life—this is indeed a gift from God. 20 God keeps such people so busy enjoying life that they take no time to brood over the past.
6:1 There is another serious tragedy I have seen under the sun, and it weighs heavily on humanity. 2 God gives some people great wealth and honor and everything they could ever want, but then he doesn’t give them the chance to enjoy these things. They die, and someone else, even a stranger, ends up enjoying their wealth! This is meaningless—a sickening tragedy.
3 A man might have a hundred children and live to be very old. But if he finds no satisfaction in life and doesn’t even get a decent burial, it would have been better for him to be born dead. 4 His birth would have been meaningless, and he would have ended in darkness. He wouldn’t even have had a name, 5 and he would never have seen the sun or known of its existence. Yet he would have had more peace than in growing up to be an unhappy man. 6 He might live a thousand years twice over but still not find contentment. And since he must die like everyone else—well, what’s the use?
7 All people spend their lives scratching for food, but they never seem to have enough. 8 So are wise people really better off than fools? Do poor people gain anything by being wise and knowing how to act in front of others?
9 Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don’t have. Just dreaming about nice things is meaningless—like chasing the wind.
I. Saving isn’t enjoying (vv. 13-15)
• Saving as mission or purpose is a
• Saving as purpose attempts to dignify
• Overconsumption
• Making unwise investments is a
II. Investing to enjoy (vv. 16-18)
• Failing to invest in
• Time is a gift to make
• It is
• God blesses people to be a
III. Wealth is a gift from God (vv. 19-6:2)
• Everyone is not equally
• The
• The
• Proper investment of wealth and time is to live in the
IV. The purpose of wealth (vv. 3-9)
• To live for dreams of the future is a
• Generosity and rest are essential to experience
• A wasted life is the worst tragedy of all because of countless
• Poverty is the result of sin failures at
1. Read Ecclesiastes 5:13-17. How does the first problem identified by the author hinder Christians from giving in a way that impacts the kingdom of God?
2. Why does working for ourselves lead to discontentment? What does it look like to work for God?
3. Read Ecclesiastes 5:18-20. How does enjoying the “good” things listed by the author prevent us from worshiping money and wealth?
4. Read Ecclesiastes 6:1-9. Why do some people, even though given “great wealth and honor,” not enjoy wealth?
5. What are examples of ways you honor God by enjoying the things God has given to you?
6. What other questions do you have about this passage of Scripture?