The Joy of Living
Devotions for Growing Christians
The Joy of Living
Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:1 - Rejoice, young man, during your childhood, and let your heart be pleasant during the days of your young manhood. And follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes. Yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things. So remove vexation from your heart and put away pain from your body, because childhood and the prime of life are fleeting. Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth . . .
Read all of Ecclesiastes!
Balance in the Christian life is not always easy - and it is certainly not automatic. There are always temptations to go off on "do your own thing" tangents. There are extreme positions that tend to draw you to one side or the other. And there are "helpful" Christians who keep telling you what they think you ought to be doing!
With all the tensions and conflicting options, maintaining a proper balance is tough. Having fun and enjoying life is one of the most difficult areas in which to achieve balance as a Christian. If we're having too much fun and feeling too happy all the time, other Christians may accuse us of not taking life seriously. We may even feel guilty that we’re over-indulging in fun and happiness! But we’re criticized if we're too sober and too serious. And if we’re too serious, life may begin to drag - with no excitement and nothing to look forward to.
You just can't seem to win! Achieving a proper balance between joy and seriousness is hard. And the problem is not just in the mind. If the right attitudes are not understood and practiced, there are the very real dangers of self-indulgence on the one hand, and discouragement or depression on the other hand.
The Book of Ecclesiastes may seem like an unlikely place to find guidelines for the proper attitude towards fun and happiness in life. Many Christians who read Ecclesiastes for the first time come away with somewhat of a depressed feeling because of the recurring "all is vanity" theme. However, Ecclesiastes has more to share than just the idea that everything is meaningless. In fact, the theme of Ecclesiastes could be "The Joy of Living," because this book has so much to say about happiness and delight in life!
The overall message of Eccesiastes
Ecclesiastes is not an easy book to understand. Throughout the history of the Church there have been various approaches to interpreting this book. However, after you read it through several times, the overall message of Ecclesiastes comes through loudly and clearly: “Without God in the picture, life is meaningless; with God in the picture, there can be joy in living.”
If God is not acknowledged and taken into account, then life "under the sun" is just one big zero. It doesn't matter what you get into - studies, styles, sex or stocks (1:12-2:11). Ultimately, without God, everything in life is empty, futile and meaningless. Vanity. You’d have to be blind to miss this aspect of the message from Ecclesiastes. But surely the corollary is also found in this book: “When God is acknowledged and reverenced and obeyed, life becomes meaningful; the believer can find happiness and enjoyment in living.” In fact, Ecclesiastes tells us that enjoyment is one of God's gifts to man from his own hand - a reward to those who fear the Lord. (See 2:24-26, 3:12-13, 5:18-20 and 9:7-9.)
But this doesn't mean that we will completely understand all of God's ways. The Holy Spirit stresses this point several times throughout Ecclesiastes. For instance, notice that God has purposely made mankind finite in comprehending eternal matters (3:10-11). Although humans are limited in their grasp of this universe, and cannot figure out all of life's questions, the believer can rest in the knowledge that the Lord is in control of His creation, and God has an appointed an appropriate time for everything (3:1-11). Furthermore, we can enjoy the short life that God has given us on earth, in spite of life's enigmas and contradictions and apparent meaninglessness (3:12-13). It’s not wrong to laugh and have fun, to enjoy life and seek pleasure, as long as God and His guidelines for happiness are brought into the picture.
This, then, is the overall message of Ecclesiastes. All texts within the book should be read and understood in the context of this overall scheme.
One further point about the interpretation of Ecclesiastes should be stressed. Remember that sometimes Solomon, the inspired author, wrote from the perspective of the first part of the book's thesis: “Without God in the picture, all is meaningless.” If we take verses out of their surrounding context, and isolate them from the overall message of the book, it can sound like the “Preacher” (1:1) is teaching untruth.
For example, in chapter 3 we read that the fate of mankind and animals is the same, and that humans have no advantage over animals (v19). But from the rest of Scripture, we know that the Bible does not teach this. However, we don't have to look far in the surrounding context to see that Ecclesiastes is not really teaching this idea. Verse 17 clearly shows that the inspired teacher knew that humans and animals are different, and that mankind will be morally judged.
But God has purposely tested man by letting it appear that the destiny of humans and animals is the same (3:18). Only by revelation can we know the truth that the spirit of man does indeed ascend upward in contrast to that of animals (3:21; 12:7). So be especially careful in Ecclesiastes. Make sure you don’t pull the so-called “difficult passages” out of their context, or interpret them apart from the perspective of the inspired writer. (See Psalm 49:12 & 20 for a similar example from another inspired author.)
Guidelines for enjoying life
Now what about those guidelines for enjoying life that God has included in Ecclesiastes? There are basically three, and they are listed together in the conclusion of the book: Fear God, keep His commandments and remember the coming judgment (12:13-14)! These controls on our pleasure pop up a number of times throughout Ecclesiastes. (Besides the passages already listed, see 5:1-7, 8:12-13, 11:9-10 and 12:1-7.)
So you can "follow the impulses of your hearts and the desires of your eyes" (11:9a) - but you must also remember the guideline of "know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things" (11:9b). You can live it up a little when you have the chance (11:9-10) - but you must "remember also your Creator" (12:1a). This will guard you from living it up too much! Remembering our Creator is especially important while we're young and in good health and have energies to dedicate, not just when we're old and falling apart (12:1b-7)!
So it's OK to have fun time on a weekend away from studies and work. It's OK to be happy and lighthearted while we barbecue a steak with friends. And it's OK to take off the serious mask and crack up over some good jokes. It's OK to get into a line of work that you like. And it's OK to enjoy the pleasures of sex in marriage. All of these OK's are gifts of God to man. But - while you enjoy these pleasures, fear God, keep His commandments and remember that our attitudes and actions will be reviewed (2 Corinthians 5:10).
The Lord knows our weakness, and He knows and how easily we're tempted to abuse His wonderful gifts. We should follow His guidelines so the good "fun and games" of life are properly controlled. Remember, too, that God may allow times of sorrow, times of testing, and other less joyful times in our lives. Here our general attitude of enjoying life is certainly modified. Ecclesiastes takes these times into account, too (3:4 and 7:2-4, for example).
Every book of Scripture must be understood in the light of the teaching of the entire Bible, and Ecclesiastes is no exception. For growing Christians, the application of the guidelines of Ecclesiastes about enjoyment must also take New Testament revelation into account. The overall message of Ecclesiastes is not changed in the New Testament. In 1 Timothy 6:17, notice that life is to be enjoyed - as long as God and His guidelines stay in the picture.
However, we also know from New Testament teaching that a Christian has the privilege of giving up, for the sake of Christ, certain of God's gifts. A Christian student, for example, may give up a good, fun-filled weekend away from school to help organize the Christian outreach program on campus. A Christian athlete may give up the benefits of a professional career in sports to serve the Lord more effectively as a leader of a struggling ministry or the elder of a small church. A Christian may give up the joys of married life in order to give a life of undivided devotion to the foreign missions. A Christian may give the money saved for a longed-for trip to a person who is in need. Every Christian has the freedom to enjoy the rich supply of God's good gifts - but we also have the privilege of denying ourselves certain joys of life, as the Lord calls us to particular areas of living for Him.
God is not a killjoy! The normal pattern of living He desires for us includes happiness and enjoyment of the life He has given us. But there must be balance in this area of Christian life. Ecclesiastes, properly understood in the context of the whole Bible, gives us God's guidelines for living joyously.
- Dave Reid