Work And Vocation Through The Lens Of Ecclesiastes

“I want my work to have significance” is an often-expressed declaration. But that desire faces a shocking challenge from possibly the wisest man who ever lived, Qohelet, through his writings in Ecclesiastes. Repeatedly, he pens the word “meaningless/absurd” to encapsulate his conclusions about work and life. We cannot simply dismiss his viewpoint as that of a madman because his words are canonized in Scripture. However, a second writer, the frame narrator, emerges at the end of Ecclesiastes to complement Qohelet without totally agreeing and with a greater urgency for our duty to God as our vocation. Both writers see the complexities and incongruities that typify our labor and life. Yet, through these challenges we can still find significance when we honor our God.

The divide between the sacred and the secular life has dogged Christians for centuries. Even today, many Christians and church leaders still assume that the workplace is inferior to pastoring, Bible study, mission trips, and the like. This volume provides a different approach: it surveys the persistence of the sacred-secular divide in Christian history to develop a more robust theology of vocation while engaging with both the Old and New Testament. Charles offers a vision for numerous ways Christians are called to live faithfully in the so-called secular world.

Work. For some this word represents drudgery and the mundane. For others work is an idol to be served. If you find yourself anywhere on the spectrum from workaholic to weekend warrior, it’s time to bridge the gap between Sunday worship and Monday work. Striking a balance between theological depth and practical counsel, Tom Nelson outlines God’s purposes for work in a way that helps us to make the most of our vocation and to join God in his work in the world. Discover a new perspective on work that will transform your workday and make the majority of your waking hours matter, not only now, but for eternity.

Alluring yet frustrating. Charming yet maddening. Such is our reaction to the literary wonder called Ecclesiastes (Qoheleth), a “wisdom” book that has captured the fascination of readers everywhere for over two millennia with its mix of poetry and personal reflection, its probing of the human experience and its piercing assessment of human activity—especially human labor. Its “All is meaningless!” lament, which frames the document, is well known to all. But its message and the structure of the writer’s argument remain disputed, even among professional scholars. Often overlooked, when not ignored, is the relationship between joy or contentment and the fear of God. And almost universally ignored in standard commentary is the role that satisfaction in our work plays in the life of the God-fearer. Against the mainstream of biblical scholarship, Wisdom and Work argues for the presence of a double theme in Ecclesiastes. It argues that, based on the writer’s literary-rhetorical strategy, two diametrically opposed outlooks on life are being contrasted in Ecclesiastes, and that meaning and purpose, not “meaninglessness,” are by divine design to be the norm – a norm that infuses the daily, the ordinary, and perhaps most significantly, our work.

Impacting His Life One Prayer at a Time Are you unsure of how to best pray for your husband? Do you struggle to find words that are meaningful and honest? Prayer is one of the most beautiful gifts you can give your spouse, but trying to know his heart and pray with intention can feel overwhelming. You can't understand his every spiritual need—but God knows. This book of insightful, guided prayers and carefully matched scriptures will enable you to pray for your husband with resolve and passion. Each day, your confidence will grow as you are inspired to approach God with a sincere and courageous heart for your spouse. You can become a powerful force of prayer for your husband's life. Move from uncertainty to assurance as you devote yourself daily to conversation with the Lord who created, knows, and fiercely loves your husband.

This commentary on Proverbs and Ecclesiastes demonstrates the continuing intellectual and practical viability of theological interpretation of the Bible for today's church.

This book contains interpretations of Ecclesiastes by authors from Asia and Pasifika. Essays engage oral traditions, customs, and written texts not usually encountered in biblical scholarship. Topics of wisdom, gender, justice, vanity, bitterness, life, death, labor, exile, pain, and philosophy invite readers to reconsider their own interpretations.

Lessons for the Christian's Daily Walk Devotional and Practical Meditations on the Book of Ecclesiastes George Mylne, 1859 Editor's note: This is the best devotional commentary on the book of Ecclesiastes that we have ever come across! In each verse which he comments on, George Mylne first views the verse just as Solomon intended from the perspective of mere human wisdom. That is, the book of Ecclesiastes is simply God's record of the rational conclusions of the wisest and most experienced man who ever lived. In other words, Solomon seriously thought upon all of life, the world and everything in it and concluded that all are puzzling enigmas, emptiness, vanity, meaningless, purposeless, futile, hopeless, vexatious, unsatisfying, unjust, etc., etc. Secondly, Mylne then views each verse from the Christian perspective that is, through the lens of the cross of Jesus. From this perspective, all the enigmas are solved, all the meaninglessness and futility of life is removed, and all the injustices are rectified. Only through the cross, does life become meaningful, purposeful and satisfying!