- Be careful what you do when you enter the house of God. Some fools go there to offer sacrifices, even though they haven't sinned. But it's best just to listen when you go to worship.
- Don't talk before you think or make promises to God without thinking them through. God is in heaven, and you are on earth, so don't talk too much.
- If you keep thinking about something, you will dream about it. If you talk too much, you will say the wrong thing.
- God doesn't like fools. So don't be slow to keep your promises to God.
- It's better not to make a promise at all than to make one and not keep it.
- Don't let your mouth get you in trouble! And don't say to the worship leader, "I didn't mean what I said." God can destroy everything you have worked for, so don't say something that makes God angry.
- Respect and obey God! Daydreaming leads to a lot of senseless talk.
- Don't be surprised if the poor of your country are abused, and injustice takes the place of justice. After all, the lower officials must do what the higher ones order them to do.
- And since the king is the highest official, he benefits most from the taxes paid on the land.
- If you love money and wealth, you will never be satisfied with what you have. This doesn't make sense either.
- The more you have, the more everyone expects from you. Your money won't do you any good--others will just spend it for you.
- If you have to work hard for a living, you can rest well at night, even if you don't have much to eat. But if you are rich, you can't even sleep.
- I have seen something terribly unfair. People get rich, but it does them no good.
- Suddenly they lose everything in a bad business deal, then have nothing to leave for their children.
- They came into this world naked, and when they die, they will be just as naked. They can't take anything with them, and they won't have anything to show for all their work.
- That's terribly unfair. They leave the world just as they came into it. They gained nothing from running after the wind.
- Besides all this, they are always gloomy at mealtime, and they are troubled, sick, and bitter.
- What is the best thing to do in the short life that God has given us? I think we should enjoy eating, drinking, and working hard. This is what God intends for us to do.
- Suppose you are very rich and able to enjoy everything you own. Then go ahead and enjoy working hard--this is God's gift to you.
- God will keep you so happy that you won't have time to worry about each day.
One way he says that we might fail to enjoy the fruit of our labor is to fail to take God seriously. Playing games with God rather than recognizing Him as the source of all we receive in life and treating Him as such. So some make rash vows to God without the intent of fulfilling them. They try in this way to impress God or others. But God isn't impressed for He sees through their actions. And others will not be impressed either when God destroys the work of their hands as a result of not keeping their vow. When we come before God it is best to keep our words few and thus not say what we don't understand or mean, making rash statements and vows we don't intend or are unable to keep.
Another way we can fail to enjoy the fruit of our labor is by the oppression of governmental leaders. Under oppressive leadership one leader, starting with the king, requires payment from the leader below him. That leader goes to the next one below him to get it, and so on down until the lowest level leader takes it from the landowners. The whole system is funded by those who work the fields. Or, as Solomon says, "the king is served by the field."
Another way one might fail to enjoy the fruit of his labor is his own covetousness. Though he accumulates wealth he doesn't enjoy it due to increased anxiety, increased vigilance, but not increased enjoyment. The one who is satisfied with what he earns is able to sleep and eat and enjoy what he has whether it is little or much.
A further way one might not enjoy the fruit of their labor is the threat of misfortune. Wealth cannot be depended upon since it can be lost overnight through misfortune. It is God in whom we should place our trust.
The bottom line is to enjoy the fruit of our labor while we can. When we die we will leave it all behind and all opportunity to enjoy it will be gone. What gain is there to struggle and give all one's effort to gaining wealth but not be able to enjoy it? We should recognize that God is the source of all we have or receive. The ability to have and to enjoy what we have is a gift of God, not of our own effort. We should not be anxious about what we don't have or of losing what we do have. Instead, we should worship the One who is the source of it all. Enjoy what He makes available to us and trust that He will provide what we need should there be a loss.
What is God's purpose in giving us the fruit of our labor? Is His purpose primarily utilitarian in nature, simply providing the necessities of life? Or is it primarily that by having the necessities we can enjoy life? Is it survival or enjoyment that God has in mind in providing the fruit of our labor?
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