Ecclesiastes 3-4: Chasing Success
Charlie Russell
June 29, 2025
New Day Christian Church, NP campus
INTRO: A Peek Into Charlie’s Life …
Yikes, Charlie is really jealous of his siblings!
Have you ever felt jealous?
Solomon tells us chasing our jealousy is like chasing after the wind.
You can’t catch it.
And he gives us 4 big reasons why we shouldn’t chase after success:
1. You Will Never Satisfy Your Envy
Ecclesiastes 4:4
And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
Everybody Loves Raymond: Raymond’s older brother, Robert, lets his jealousy of his little brother consume him. And it makes him miserable.
Our desire for success is rooted in that same miserable jealousy. It’s our envy that causes us to feel discontent with what we have. The problem is, there will always be someone who has it better than you.
Have you ever got the best or became the best only to feel outdone soon after?
Michael Jordan Vs. Lebron James: Even when you are the greatest, people still argue who really is. And you know what? Lebron James will always be chasing Michael Jordan.
Therefore, we must choose to be content with doing our best.
Ecclesiastes 4:5-6
Fools fold their hands and ruin themselves. (They do nothing with their hands). Better one handful with tranquillity (or contentment) than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind (Or two hands grasping the wind).
Ecclesiastes 3:22
So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot…
Ecclesiastes 3:13
That each of them … find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.
Philippians 4:11-13
I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” What’s the secret? “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”
Trusting God is the secret to contentment. When you start chasing God, you stop chasing the wind.
Ecclesiastes 3:1
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.
What season are you in right now? How can you allow yourself to experience your season?
Chasing good seasons is literally chasing the wind. Chasing God means trusting the wind.
2. Your Legacy Will Not Last
Ecclesiastes 3:22
(So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot), For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?
Ecclesiastes 4:15-16
I saw that all who lived and walked under the sun followed the youth, the king’s successor. There was no end to all the people who were before them. But those who came later were not pleased with the successor. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
It’s egotistical to believe that we can be important enough to matter to the world.
Ecclesiastes 2:18-19
I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me. And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish?
A lot of legacies don’t even continue with their successors.
What example can you think of?
And no legacy lasts for eternity.
- What would Walt Disney think about the last 10 years?
- What would our founding fathers say if they looked ahead from July 4th 1776 to July 4th 2025?
- What would the soldiers who fought and died for our freedom think of how we’ve handled our freedom today?
And you won’t be remembered either. How many signers of the Declaration of Independence can you name? How many soldiers can you name?
Ecclesiastes 2:16
For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered; the days have already come when both have been forgotten.
As noble as it may seem, chasing your legacy, if that is all that you are chasing, is meaningless.
There are a lot of heroes the world has forgotten about, but not Christ. Christ is remembered. Christ’s legacy lasts for eternity. Don’t chase your legacy, seek God’s legacy.
Luke 10:20
(Jesus to his disciples) … your names are written in heaven.
Revelation 3:5
(For those who are saved) … I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels.
If you want your name to be remembered for eternity, focus on getting your name in that book. Focus on being a disciple of Christ.
Sometimes we’re so focused on the legacy we leave behind in our world that we forget the legacy we leave to our children.
What do you want them to remember about you? Do you think that’s what they will really say?
Moses’ Legacy: Deuteronomy 6:5
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind and all your strength.
His Successor’s (Joshua) Legacy: Joshua 24:15
… As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
Jesus confirmed (Matthew 22:7) that the Shema was the greatest commandment.
3. Chasing Success Leaves You Alone
Ecclesiastes 4:8
There was a man all alone; he had neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. “For whom am I toiling,” he asked, “and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?” This too is meaningless— a miserable business!
No kid ever said, “My Dad was never really around, he was never there for me, I didn’t get to spend a lot of time with him, but I got a new bike, so that makes it ok.”
We wouldn’t have so many great songs like:
Cats and the Cradle (Harry Chapin)
“Stay At Home Dad” (Chandler Brown)
Luke Combs’ album “Fathers and Sons,”
Bluey episode “The Sign” (Watch on Disney)
If we didn’t know that was true.
(After you send yourself these notes, click on those songs if you want to hear them!)
We would have saved ourselves a lot of tissues and therapy sessions if we were better at choosing our family over success.
If your family was kidnapped, how much money would you be willing to spend to rescue them? How much would you spend to redo a moment with them?
How much money have you spent on attempts to make up for lost time? (Maybe calculate this later!)
Sacrificing your family for success is not worth it. And neither is sacrificing having a family.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor. If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
What are some examples of a third strand?
Charlie’s Story: Some of you know that I’ve experienced what it’s like to fall and be unable to get up on my own. (Picture) A few years ago I got sick. I got covid. Covid turned into pneumonia. Pneumonia took me to the ICU. The ICU wasn’t enough so they put me on a ventilator. The ventilator wasn’t enough so they put me on ECMO. I finally emerged out of the hospital 3 months later after a 6 week coma shriveled down to nothing and unable to walk for a good year or so because of severe nerve damage in my legs.
Have you ever fallen and no one was around to help you? When have you felt alone?
I remember when I fell and my family helped me get up.
Real examples:
The first time I fell (outside of the hospital) was when I got up to go to the bathroom and my wheelchair wheels weren’t locked, my brother Tommy had to help Faith get me in the wheelchair.
I took a corner too short at my parents house and fell and Dad helped me up.
Sometimes I fell running errands with Faith and Faith would help me get up.
But I’ll tell you what I remember the most was when I fell when no one was around and I had to pull myself up. One time it took me 15 minutes. For 15 minutes I laid there fighting the pain, frustrated, embarrassed, doubting myself, debating what I should do and could do, but it was a lonely 15 minutes. It was a long 15 minutes.
But the reason I’m completely healthy today is because a cord of three strands is not easily broken. I had God, I had family, and I had the church. I had you. You prayed for us, encouraged us, pushed me in the wheelchair, carried things from the storage unit, took care of Charity, and helped pay for medical bills.
When those three strands are wrapped together, you can get through anything. No amount of success is worth sacrificing that.
The legacy I want to leave behind for my kids:
- I don’t want to teach my children how to be great in this world, I want to teach my children that God is great and He is all that matters.
- I want to care more about their Bible study than their report card.
- I’d rather be front porch famous than world famous, but even more so than that, I want to make it to God’s front porch.
- I don’t want to just be a good father, I want to model my Heavenly father.
What legacy do you want to leave behind for your kids?
The investment of taking a sabbath day, the investments in your family, the investments you make in the church are worth so much more than the investments in your career.
4. Your Success Means Nothing When You Die
Ecclesiastes 3:20
All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.
Ecclesiastes 3:2
There is a time to be born, and a time to die.
One day your season will end and you will run out of time to do anything more.
More of Charlie’s story: Before I got sick, I thought I had it all. I had a beautiful, sweet, wonderful wife who loved me dearly and was expecting our first child , a good home in the suburbs outside Nashville , and I even had good Christian friends from church. I was making good money, was my own boss, and I was on a promising trajectory. I had success.
Get this: my motto for my marketing company was “We help make you significant.” I was helping others chase success!
And I just thought that life couldn’t be better. I might not have been the richest man in the world, but I did have the root of the American dream. And I was serving at church, so I knew I could cross that off my to-do list and feel free to pursue my new career now that I had left ministry behind.
But when I was in the ICU, one day before the coma, the odds became very much against my survival, and I realized that there were a lot of things that I regretted. Because the only thing worth pursuing in this life is eternal life. The meaning of life is to pursue heaven.
Luke 18:18-23
A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
(His success wasn’t enough)
“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’” “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.
(His reputation wasn’t enough)
When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy.
So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
And I declared that the dead, who had already died, are happier than the living, who are still alive.
Solomon’s ultimate conclusion is that life under the sun is meaningless because it ends. And he’s right.
Right now, you might struggle with sacrificing your success, your ego, your wealth, for treasures in heaven, but there will be a day that comes when you would trade it all in a heartbeat. But by then it will be too late.
Maybe you’re young and you think you’ve got all the time in the world and you can do all that after you’ve had your success. I was 26 and healthy! I made a lot of good choices about my health. I thought Covid wasn’t something to be as afraid of for someone like me. But whether it’s Covid, or a car accident, or cancer, death doesn’t check your age first.
- Would you rather hear a long list of your career accomplishments in your obituary, or hear your Heavenly Father say, “Well done, good and faithful servant?”
- Would you rather have your name be temporarily in a history book, or your name be written in the book of life in heaven?
- Would you rather hear your child say at your funeral, “I’m proud of my Dad, I’m proud of my Mom,” or “They were proud to be a Christian.”
Your accomplishments mean nothing without Christ.
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