Ecclesiastes Chapter Four cont... the criticality of our labors.

8 “ There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither saith he, For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity, yea, it is a sore travail”.

This verse speaks of the spirit of acquisition, how that even if man has no one to leave it to yet he is consumed with the need to amass; Solomon in truth feared all his labors coming to naught (in a covetous way). O' Christian let me plead with you, be careful what you pursue and invest your time and resources in; be careful of that which you put your heart and soul into. The attainments and acquisitions of this world are so vain. Our focus should be to fulfill the will of God for our lives; to increase His kingdom and to accomplish His plan for our lives. It should be for the furtherance of the gospel or to lift some soul out of the dust. One may be laboring for that which will perish or be squandered by others after they leave this world then what is the eternal reward? The saying “Penny wise and pound foolish” means that one puts all of their efforts in the wrong direction. O' to live life with the knowledge of what really matters! Do riches and the stock market matter? Do cars, houses and lands matter? Does climbing the corporate ladder matter? How one will answer this question reveals what place these things have in their heart but just remember "...neither is his eye satisfied with riches..."

9 “Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour”.

This is a very important truth we would do well to remember; we need the help of others to accomplish the work of God. Two are better than one; no man working alone can accomplish as much as two side by side. This is important in all our labor but it is critically important as it relates to marriage, what great things for the kingdom can be accomplished if husband and wife are united for a purpose! As a laborer (of mens souls) learn to work with others; Jesus sent them out two by two to each city because they can be more effective that way. It is true that before two can walk together they must be agreed but in reality it can be a flaw in one’s character when they are not be able to work with others; we want to find others of the same vision to work with us.