Enjoy this life

Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God has already accepted your works.  Let your garments always be white, and let your head lack no oil. Ecclesiastes 9:7-8.  NKJV.

When I came to Ecclesiastes chapter nine in my readings this morning, I must confess, I thought I knew something of what was coming.  (That’s the thing about having read The Word all these years, you know a bit about what is coming up, and that can be a help or hindrance).  I was thinking more about the book’s message of vanity, rather than purpose and hope.

Ecclesiastes is an interesting book of the Bible.  It is no accident it is included.  The key word in the book is vanity — the futile emptiness of trying to be happy apart from God.  The Preacher (traditionally taken to be Solomon — the wisest, richest, most influential king in Israel’s history), looks at life under the sun, and from the human perspective, and declares it all to be empty.  Power, popularity, prestige, pleasure — nothing can fill the God-shaped void in man’s life but God Himself!

But once seen from God’s perspective, life takes on meaning and purpose, causing Solomon to exclaim, eat… drink… rejoice… do good… live joyfully… fear God… keep His commandments.

Scepticism and despair melt away when life is viewed as a daily gift from God.

But this verse, our text in today’s Brief Word, is packed with relevant truth, hope and purpose.

I’d woken a little anxious and wondering about an issue going on in our lives.  But when I came to that verse, the Holy Spirit blew away all condemnation and fear, and it was replaced with hope and confidence.  Its true; The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple. Psalm 119:130. (NKJV).

I was reminded about the meaning of various words in today’s verse.

“Go, eat your bread with joy”.  Bread speaks of provision.  God intends that we enjoy His provision.  God provides.  He is El Shaddai!  God Almighty.  The Overpowerer.  The All-sufficient One.  The more than enough One.

The Almighty is the God who is enough!  He is more than sufficient to meet any need.  He is power and provision.  In great compassion, He sustains, nourishes and protects me.  He takes my weakness and gives me strength.  He takes my inadequate resources and in His sufficiency uses them for His great and powerful purposes.

That is something to enjoy and celebrate!

“drink your wine with a merry heart”.  Wine speaks of joy.  And here we have the message of joy reiterated.  It says to enjoy our provision, and, be filled with joy, in our heart!  Our heart is the real us, it is at the centre of who we are.  Life is not to be lived morbidly, with a dour attitude and expression, but when Christ lives in us, then from the very depths of our being, our heart, joy comes.

Joy comes from the Lord.  Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. Nehemiah 8:10. (NKJV).

“God has already accepted your works”.  Or, “for God approves of this!”. (NLT).   In other words God approves of us enjoying His provision.  Even with the limitations and temporal nature of this present life, humanity should rejoice in its goodness.  Solomon’s strong view of God’s sovereignty brings comfort and balance after an honest critique of what life in a fallen world entails.

It is a good thing to enjoy God’s provision.

Here is what I have seen: It is good and fitting for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life which God gives him; for it is his heritage. Ecclesiastes 5:18. (NKJV).

“Let your garments always be white”.  Garments speak of covering, and a white garment, speaks of righteousness.

Here’s an interesting truth.  Righteousness is doing right in God’s eyes.  God alone is the author of righteousness.  So any activity of yours or mine to produce righteousness God Himself must be the source of it.  Thanks be to God for the indwelling Christ!  He is our righteousness.  When God looks at us, He sees Christ, the righteousness of God, in us.

Therefore, our garments — what we’re clothed in — are white with Christ’s righteousness.

“let your head lack no oil”.  Oil in Scripture speaks of anointing.  The anointing of God.  The head is the place of authority.  Here we’re encouraged that instead of vanity and despair, we can have our head, our authority, our decision making anointed by God.  Amazing!

Anointing – God’s ability, God’s strength, God’s power, God’s enabling.  God’s grace.

Bread, joy, heart, acceptance, work, garments, white, head, oil.

These words encouraged me this morning.  From that book about vanity.  But there’s nothing futile or empty about God’s Word.  There’s nothing haphazard about God’s ability to encourage, guide, lead, empower and envision us from His Word.

You may have been a reader of the Bible for years.  You may know a lot about it, and your mind may race ahead to the stories you’re about to read.  But never underestimate the Holy Spirit’s ability to speak and word in season right into your heart, from anywhere in His Word.

As we approach the festive season, Christmas time, may the Lord show us things about that well known story, things we’ve never seen before.  Truth about the story.  Truth for our situation.  Revelation and light for our pathway.  Illumination about the Bible and it’s history, culture and message.

Go, eat, be filled with joy, celebrate His provision, work, be white, be anointed.

Be filled with Christ.  Enjoy The Word.  Enjoy this life.

Special Message for Brief Word Readers.

My second book Brief Word  — A Collection, is nearing the production phase.  I am very excited!  It is a collection of the first 40 Brief Words, and will be released 12 February 2019.  Already, we have seen the Hand of God on the project.  Please pray with us for a smooth preparation, production and publication process and for the funds needed to publish it.  Thank you!

More information will be out soon!