"Is It Worth It"
Ecclesiastes 4:1-8 : Who am I working for? Why am I giving up so much pleasure now? (v.8).
Lou Gehrig may not have died from Lou Gehrig’s disease. The Hall of Fame pro baseball player is the namesake for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a debilitating neurological disease that slowly paralyzes its victims and ultimately leads to death. New research reveals that Gehrig may not have had ALS, but exhibited similar symptoms due to blows to his head. Gehrig was the legendary Iron-Man who played in 2,130 consecutive baseball games. He started one game the day after he was hit by a pitch, with a bump on his head so large that he wore George “Babe” Ruth’s larger cap. We praise Gehrig for his resolve to play through pain, but his commitment to baseball may have led to the disease that killed him. Gehrig was really good at what he did, but what he did may have ruined his life.
Is it worth it? (Ecclesiastes 4:8). This question nags at the young lawyer eating takeout as she proofreads documents deep into the night. Her job drains the joy from her life but she owes too much to the bank to do anything else.
Is it worth it? This question haunts the dreams of the traveling businessman. He’s making more money than he can responsibly spend, but he’s gone more than he’s home.
If you have drive and talent, most likely you’re good at what you do. But don’t let the good get in the way of what’s best. You owe it to God, yourself, and those who love you to ask the big question: ”Who am I working for?” (v.8).
Is your career, business, or obsession with blogging or writing a novel keeping you from the people you love most?
You may be really good at what you do, but what you do may be ruining your life. Is it worth it? —Mike Wittmer
Is it worth it?
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Read Psalm 90 to discover how to become wise about life and making daily decisions.
List the most important people in your life.
Do your choices typically help or hurt your relationships?
What can you do right now—and long-term—to show them that they greatly matter to you? How can you show God that He matters most?
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Ecclesiastes 4:1-8 (New Living Translation)
1 Again I observed all the oppression that takes place in our world. I saw the tears of the oppressed, with no one to comfort them. The oppressors have great power, and the victims are helpless.
2 So I concluded that the dead are better off than the living.
3 And most fortunate of all are those who were never born. For they have never seen all the evil that is done in our world.
4 Then I observed that most people are motivated to success by their envy of their neighbors. But this, too, is meaningless, like chasing the wind.
5 Foolish people refuse to work and almost starve.
6 They feel it is better to be lazy and barely survive than to work hard, especially when in the long run everything is so futile.
7 I observed yet another example of meaninglessness in our world.
8 This is the case of a man who is all alone, without a child or a brother, yet who works hard to gain as much wealth as he can. But then he asks himself, "Who am I working for? Why am I giving up so much pleasure now?" It is all so meaningless and depressing.
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