Saturday, September 17, 2022

Ecclesiastes 5:18-20

 

To enjoy what lies near to hand; to be content with you "lot". 

When God gives someone wealth...and the ability to enjoy them.

We should accept our limitations as created beings, and not let our enjoyment of what God gives us be spoilt by a desire for what lies beyond our grasp.

Be content with you "lot" does not mean be boring or be timid and unimaginative. You can live an interesting, creative and bold life without transgressing the bounds God has set. Note too, that wealth can be enjoyed as God's gift. It is only the love of wealth which is wrong.

If God enables you to enjoy life, be content with that.

Enjoying the good things of life can, by God's grace, prevent us from dwelling excessively on the darker aspects of life (its brevity; the presence of injustice). Such enjoyment is not the final answer to these darker aspects.

It also brings with it certain dangers: for example, that pleasures like eating, drinking and enjoyable labor may become so central to our lives that if they are taken away from us, our faith collapses; or that in the midst of our enjoyment we may ignore the sufferings of others; or again, that we may treat others unjustly in our desire to secure the things that bring us pleasure.

But in themselves these things are good, a gift of God for which we can and should give thanks. As a friend of mine once put it, if God's children cannot enjoy God's gifts, who can?   

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