Joy in the Present
"There is nothing better for a person than thathe should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, isfrom the hand of God, for apart from him who can eat or who can haveenjoyment?" (vv. 24-25).
Asceticism is not the mark of true Christian spirituality, but it dominated church teachingon sanctification—growth in holiness—for much of the church's history until theProtestant Reformation. The Reformers did much to counter this trend; however, there isstill a lingering assumption held by many Protestants that true obedience to God consistsin forgoing many of the pleasures that this life has to offer, whether those pleasures are afancy dinner, date night at the movies, a glass of fine wine, or other such things. Yet the Biblenever teaches such a view of the Christian life. In fact, Scripture frequently commends thejoys to be found on this side of heaven, joys that we find in the created order itself.
Today's passage is one of many in the Bible that exhort us to enjoy the pleasures availableto us in the present. After observing the incomprehensible reality that we will finallygive up the fruit of our labor at death (Eccl. 2:18-23), the Preacher offers the answer to theconundrum that this reality causes. We are not to try to "fix" the problem by probing themystery as to why so much of what we do does not finally benefit us. We are not to be perpetuallydissatisfied with this, such that we work harder and longer so that we might createmore for ourselves and our families. (Of course, creating more for ourselves and ourfamilies is not wrong in itself. It is only wrong when it is motivated by covetousness andselfishness.) Instead, the Preacher tells us, enjoying what we do have is how we deal withthe frustration that comes from not seeing so much of the fruit of our labor (vv. 24-25).
What is more, the Preacher says that the ability to enjoy the fruit of our labor is the giftof God. Frustration with the futility that we sometimes feel in our work can lead to dissatisfactionand discontentment with the good that we do have. It takes the grace of the Lordfor us to be satisfied with what we have produced, and if God does not give us that grace,we will never be happy with ourselves or our circumstances.
Today's passage also says it is incomprehensible that God ordains those who displeaseHim to build up wealth for His people. The incomprehensibility of this is that while thePreacher knows that this is true in an ultimate sense, we do not always see it work out thatway on this side of glory. Serving the Lord is no guarantee of wealth, and it can lead to hardshipand poverty. Why some servants of our Creator prosper greatly in a material sense butother faithful servants do not is difficult to grasp. Only God knows why this is the case.
Coram Deo
Often we experience suffering when we have faithfully served the Lord, whileother faithful servants experience prosperity. When this happens, it is easyto wallow in dissatisfaction. We are also tempted to try to find the reasonswhy our situation is different than another's. The answer, however, is to seekthe Lord's face and ask Him to give us contentment and satisfaction withwhatever blessings we do have, whether they are large or small.