Why Worry About Stuff

And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity.

Ecclesiastes 2:19

I am amazed sometimes to think how possessive I am of my own “Stuff”. I worked so hard to buy it. It’s mine to do with what I desire, right? I cringe to think an intruder could break in and take it, or a fire would consume it. Sometimes I admit I don’t even want to share it with others. God’s Word has two important lessons for me – I can’t take it with me, and I should share it with other believers.

• Ecclesiastes 5:15, “As he came from his mother’s womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand.”
• Acts 4:32, “Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.”

Solomon had the same attitude, lamenting the fact that everything he toiled for and earned in his lifetime would be left to someone else. And to make matters worse, they would be master or controller over it all. They would rule and have dominion over it, and this disturbs Solomon because he doesn’t know if they will be wise or foolish with it (as if it will still be his to worry about after he is gone). Will they handle it wisely and as skillfully as he did?

Looking at it through God’s Word puts everything in the right perspective. He has given us gifts to be used for His glory. If we do that it won’t matter what happens after we are gone because the Lord will continue our work through others that come after us.