Enjoy Every Day!

In the fourth century, a young man named Simeon became very serious about pleasing God in this fallen world. He withdrew from normal life and began rejecting all earthly pleasure. At age 15, Simeon gave away all his possessions, took a vow of celibacy, and moved into a monastery. But the monk life still seemed too “soft” to Simeon, so he moved out to the woods by himself. He once went 40 days without food or water there. Eventually, this did not seem intense enough, either. So Simeon built a small platform on top of a ten-foot high pillar for himself (he would ultimately graduate to a pillar 50-feet off the ground). For the next 37 years, Simeon lived in the air, totally removed from ordinary human life, refusing earth's most basic comforts. “Asceticism,” the idea that we gain spiritual benefit from severity to our own bodies, is common in church history (though Simeon took it to new heights). Even if we would never dream of becoming a monk or a nun, we can still get the idea that the less we enjoy earthly life, the more it pleases God. We can assume that God would be a lot happier if we were more serious, intense, and "spiritual," elevated above common things like eating and drinking.

Today, Solomon shows us how wrong we are! “Go, eat your bread with joy and drink your wine with a merry heart” (9:7). This has to be one of the happiest, most liberating verses in the Bible! Everything that Solomon told us from the graveyard yesterday is true: life in our fallen world is brief, hard, and confusing. But the God who has saved us through Jesus Christ and calls us to walk with him is not leading us on a grim death march. He wants us to go enjoy every day! He has filled his creation with so many sweet, simple gifts for his children every day!

These gifts don’t always seem extraordinary to us—Solomon mentions bread and wine, daily staples at any Israelite table. But the everyday blessings of food and drink (and we could add marriage, children, friendship, the beautiful creation, meaningful work, hobbies, etc.) are tokens of our Father’s kind, generous heart, as he leads us to our true home. And make no mistake—God wants you to enjoy them: “Eat...with joy...drink…with a merry heart!” These are biblical commands! God is not out to make you miserable. He is the very one who “provides us with all things richly to enjoy” (1 Tim 6:17). The apostle Paul will warn us not to listen to people who forbid the enjoyment of marriage and food, as if this is somehow more "spiritual" and impresses God.  Paul assures us that “God created [food and marriage] to be received with thanksgiving by those who know the truth.” Why did God make food, drink, marriage, and every other created thing? So that his children would enjoy them and give thanks to him (1 Tim 4:3–4)!

We can and should enjoy God’s creation each day, not worrying if God "approves" of us or not. The gospel has already settled this. Our holy God thoroughly disapproved of us in our sin, but he sent his Son to remove that disapproval from us forever, at the cross. By faith in Jesus alone, God gives us his approval, once and for all (the New Testament calls this "justification"). Practically, this means that Christians can and should enjoy each day with a clean conscience and a merry heart, “for God has already approved of what you do” (9:7). So go! Eat that fried fish at Hagy’s. Breathe in that crisp autumn air and drink in the explosive colors of fall. Make that quilt, work in those flowerbeds, chase those kids around your yard. Know that each of these is a gift from your heavenly Father for you to enjoy in your imperfect life under the sun. Make joy and thanksgiving your lifestyle: “Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head” (8). White garments and oil were for special occasions only in this day; in Christ, the garments of joy are everyday-wear. God's children should walk through this vain world like we’re headed to a party. Because we are!

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Article by Eric Smith
Senior Pastor, Sharon Baptist Church