When we read from Ecclesiastes the
writer of this Book is calling us to joy. The center of that joy is the Lord.
The Life in and through Jesus is a gift and a blessing. Though it is transitory
here on earth, because of Jesus it is abundant and eternal. Life in Jesus is an
invitation to Joy, deep joy. It is, further, an invitation to a commission to
share with others that might know the One who is the The Way, the Truth, and the
Life. We are called to enjoy eating, drinking, and working In Ecclesiastes
chapter 2. It is because these gifts and blessings of grace come "from the
hand of God" (2:24). In chapter 3 it is because these blessings are "God's
gift to man" (3:13). The same is true in chapter 5, which also says that God
keeps us "occupied with joy" in our hearts (5:20). The writer may be
frustrated with life in this fallen world, but he still acknowledges the gifts
that come from the hand of God.
We see this perhaps most clearly in
Ecclesiastes 9, where the
writer tells us to enjoy bread and wine because "God has already approved what
you do" (9:7). This is not a blanket endorsement of everything that people do,
as if God would ever approve of wickedness. The Preacher is saying mainly that
eating and drinking have the blessing of God so that we may enjoy them. Life's
enjoyments are not guilty pleasures, but godly pleasures—or at least they ought
to be. A merry heart has God's approval. It is part of his gracious will for
our lives.
The Preacher begins with the basic
pleasures of eating and drinking: "Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your
wine with a merry heart" (9:7). The word "go" conveys a sense of urgency. This
statement is not descriptive, but imperative. We are hereby commanded to eat
our bread and drink our wine with joyful hearts. It is not so much the eating
and drinking that the Preacher is after, but the heartfelt joy. —we are charged
to receive those pleasures with God-centered joy in the heart.
The celebration continues in verse
8: "Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head."
White garments were the "dress up clothes" of the ancient Near East. Many
festive occasions were adorned with robes of white. They were worn by war heroes
on victory parade, by slaves on the day they gained their freedom, and by
priests on the high holy days of Israel ( 2 Chronicles 5:12). The last pleasure that the Preacher mentions is work, which
is part of our portion in life: "Enjoy … your toil at which you toil under the
sun" (9:9). The phrase "under the sun" does not refer to backbreaking labor in
the heat of the day, but to the regular calling of our earthly
existence—whatever God has called us to do. Whether we labor in law, or
science, or education, or construction, or medicine, or ministry, or the arts
(or in all of those areas through the high calling of home-making), God has
given us good work to do. As the Preacher has said before, this work is a gift
from God, which we should enjoy as long as we can.
He goes on in verse 10 to reinforce
what he says about work by giving a strong command: "Whatever your hand finds to
do, do it with your might" (9:10). Here the Bible tells us what to do,
namely, whatever lies near at hand. The point is not that we should work
randomly, or do whatever we please. Rather, in the course of God's providence,
some things lie in the path of our duty—things that are pleasing to God.
The Preacher also tells us the way to do this
work—not just what to do, but how to do it: with all our might. As we
have the opportunity, we should work with all our strength. Yet how easy it is
to while away the hours, not focusing on the things we know that God wants us to
do, but idling away our time with lots of little distractions. The Puritan
William Perkins said: "We must take heed of two damnable sins …. The first is
idleness, whereby the duties of our callings … are neglected or omitted. The
second is slothfulness, whereby they are performed slackly and carelessly."
Ecclesiastes 9:10 is the perfect
remedy for both of these sins because it tells us both what to do and how to do
it. Do whatever you are called to do, and do it with all your strength.
Derek Kidner says that God alone
"is the source of all the gifts of earthly life: its bread and wine, festivity
and work, marriage and love." Every pleasure comes from the God of all
pleasure, and therefore it should be received with thanksgiving and praise.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote: "Earth's crammed with heaven, And every
common bush afire with God; But only he who sees, takes off his shoes." Do you
see all the gifts that God has given to you, and then respond with holy
praise?
For people who enjoy as many
blessings as we do, the words "Thank you, Father," should never be far from our
grateful lips. This is especially true for
everyone who knows the grace of God through the saving work of Jesus Christ—His
death on the cross for our sins and His return from the grave with the free gift
of eternal life. We have even more to celebrate than the Preacher of
Ecclesiastes because we know "the good news of great joy" that God announced
through the coming of Christ ( Luke
2:10). It is for this reason, most of
all, that we are able to eat our bread with joy, and drink wine with a merry
heart, and enjoy life with the people we love, and find enjoyment in the hard
work of our daily calling. It is all because we know the Savior.
The pleasures in this passage are
all pleasures that Jesus enjoyed during his earthly ministry. One of the best ways for us to enjoy life with Jesus is by
sharing in his pleasures. All of the good things mentioned in Ecclesiastes 9 symbolize the gifts
of his grace. Jesus gives us our daily bread ( Luke
11:3). He makes our hearts glad with the
bread and the wine of the Lord's Supper. He has anointed our heads with the
oil—the oil of the Holy Spirit. He has invited us to the wedding supper of
heaven, where he will be our worthy groom and we will be his beautiful bride (
Revelation 19:7, 9). He has promised to give us
spotless white to wear in his eternal kingdom, where we will join the
celebration that never ends (see Revelation 7:9, 14).
In Christ,
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