I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man.
Ecclesiastes 3:12-13
The world is a cursed, broken, harsh hot mess. We know this. We feel it, and the book Ecclesiastes makes this abundantly clear throughout. Yet Ecclesiastes also shares this wonderful, repeated theme: take pleasure (3:12-13, 5:18-19, 8:15). We are told to enjoy what God has given us even in the midst of all this brokenness.
The curse of Genesis 3 did not remove God’s fingerprints from the world nor did it diminish His sovereignty over it. God’s creative brilliance and kindness is tangible everywhere we look. When Ecclesiastes calls us to enjoy God’s good gifts it is actually recovering some of God’s design that was broken at the fall. By rightly enjoying creation and being grateful we are reordering what has been in chaos. When we eat bread and do work and enjoy loved ones with gratitude to God, it is anti-idolatry. It places the gifts and the giver in their proper places and turns our eyes to where true happiness lies.
This sort of enjoyment is loud in a world of anxious, hungry, empty seekers. People are dying for identity, fulfillment, and joy. And we can offer it, through Christ as we model how to be free from manic pursuits and clamoring. Because we are grounded in the Giver and because our hope lies in Jesus Christ, we can enjoy God’s gifts with no pressure.
I originally wrote this post for my church, Immanuel Nashville, in our Daily Pulse email. If you want encouragement from God’s word delivered Monday thru Friday to your inbox, I encourage you to subscribe.
