Corruption of Wealth
I find it disturbingly ironic that the wealthiest king in the history of kingdoms hated wealth so much that he dedicated more page space to it than any other worldly pursuit of happiness in Ecclesiastes. The richest king ever abhorred his wealth; that should tell you something.
Life is Empty
See, as Christians, we can have happiness in the things we do here because we have the joy of Christ in knowing that, once we’re done here, there is everlasting joy to look forward to. We can enjoy the things of this world because we are already satisfied by Christ. We will never be satisfied by the things of this world, but we can have a little fun doing the things that are not sinful. There’s nothing wrong with pursuing some of these empty things if you’re already full.
Earth is Pointless
Take a moment to think about that, and don’t try to be optimistic about it. Solomon wasn’t being optimistic here. What do you really get for waking up early in the morning and working hard all day? You get some money, but what’s that worth? You’re just going to spend it. No, you don’t get money. You get to wake up and do it again the next day just to survive. It’s pointless. Even if your goal is to set up your children for their own life, it’s pointless.