Joy In The Christian Life

Feature 3 – October 2013 – Grace & Truth Magazine

Joy In The CHRISTIAN Life:
Thoughts On Ecclesiastes

“Rejoice, young man, during your childhood, and let your heart be pleasant during the days of your young manhood. And follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes. Yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things. So remove vexation from your heart and put away pain from your body, because childhood and the prime of life are fleeting. Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth.”

— Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:1 NASB

Balance in the Christian life is not always easy and it’s certainly not automatic. There are always the temptations to go off on certain “do your own thing” tangents. And there are always those extreme positions that tend to draw us to one side or the other. Then, of course, there are those “helpful” Christians who keep telling us what they think we ought to be doing or not doing. Maintaining a proper balance is tough in the middle of all these tensions and conflicting options.

Seeking The Balance
Having fun and enjoying life is one of the most difficult areas in which to achieve balance as a Christian. If we’re having too much fun and feeling too happy all the time other Christians may accuse us of not taking life seriously. We may even put ourselves on a guilt trip because of this supposed overindulgence in fun and happiness! But then if we’re too sober and too serious all the time our Christian friends begin giving us “smiley-face” messages. In all seriousness, life may begin to drag for us with no excitement and nothing to look forward to. We just can’t seem to win!

Achieving a proper balance in this area of living is hard. And the problem is not just in the mind. There are the very real dangers of self-indulgence on the one hand and discouragement or depression on the other if the right attitude toward enjoying life is not practiced.

The Book of Ecclesiastes may seem like an unlikely place to find guidelines for the proper attitude towards fun and happiness in life. Many Christians who read this book of Scripture for the very first time come away with a depressed feeling because of the recurring “all is vanity” theme. However, Ecclesiastes has more to share than just the idea that everything is meaningless. In fact this book has so much to say about delight in life that its theme could be considered “the joy of living.”

The Overall Message Of Ecclesiastes
Now it is certainly true that Ecclesiastes is not the simplest and most straight-forward portion of Scripture to understand. For this reason there have been various approaches to the interpretation of this part of God’s Word throughout the history of the Church. However, after the book has been read several times its overall message begins to come through loud and clear: Without God in the picture life is meaningless; with God in the picture there can be real joy in living. If God is not acknowledged and taken into account then life “under the sun” is just one big zero. It doesn’t matter what you are into (Eccl. 1:12-2:11), without God all life is vanity – empty, futile and meaningless.

One has to be blind to miss this aspect of the message of Ecclesiastes. But surely the corollary is also found in this book of the Bible. When God is acknowledged, reverenced and obeyed life becomes meaningful; the believer can actually find enjoyment in living. Ecclesiastes tells us that this is one of God’s gifts to man – a reward to those who fear the Lord (Eccl. 2:24-26, 3:12-13, 5:18-20, 9:7-9).

Although God allows His children to find joy in living it does not always follow that we will therefore understand life completely or fathom all of God’s ways. The Holy Spirit is careful to stress this point several times throughout Ecclesiastes. For instance, in chapter 3:10-11 we note that God purposely made man finite in reference to comprehending eternal matters. But even though man is limited in his grasp of this universe and cannot figure out all of life’s questions, the believer can rest in the knowledge that the Lord is in control of His creation and has an appointed and appropriate time for everything (3:1-11). Furthermore, we can enjoy the short life that God has given us on earth in spite of life’s apparent contradictions and seeming meaninglessness (3:12-13). It is not wrong to laugh, enjoy life and seek pleasure as long as God and His guidelines for happiness are in the picture.

This then is the overall message of Ecclesiastes. All texts within the book should be read and understood in the context of this overall scheme. Before we mention some of the guidelines for happiness that God has given us, one other point about the interpretation of this book should be stressed. Sometimes Solomon, its inspired author, writes from the perspective of the first part of the book’s thesis, namely that without God all is meaningless. When these verses are taken out of the surrounding context and isolated from the overall message of the book it can sound like the Preacher (1:1) is teaching untruth. For example, in Ecclesiastes 3:19 we read that the fate of man and animals is the same and that man has no advantage over the animal. We know that the rest of Scripture does not teach this – and neither does Ecclesiastes!

We don’t have to look far in the surrounding context to see what is being taught here. Ecclesiastes 3:17 clearly shows that the inspired teacher knows that man and animals are different and that man is going to be morally judged. But God has purposely tested man (3:18) by letting it appear that the destiny of men and beasts is the same. Only by revelation can we know the truth that the spirit of man does indeed ascend upward in contrast to that of the beast (3:21). This truth is also taught explicitly in chapter 12:7. So be especially careful in Ecclesiastes to make sure that the so-called difficult passages are not pulled out of context and interpreted apart from the perspective of the inspired writer. See Psalm 49:12,20 for a similar example from another inspired author.

Some Guidelines For A Balanced Christian Life
Now what about those guidelines for enjoying life that God has included in Ecclesiastes? There are three and they are listed together at the end of the book (12:13-14): Fear God; keep His commandments; and remember the coming judgment. These three controls on our joy do not just appear in the last two verses of the book but they pop up at least four times in Ecclesiastes (5:1-7, 8:12-13, 11:9-10, 12:1-7). In other words you can “follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes” but you must also remember the guideline of “know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things” (11:9). You can live it up a little while you are young (11:9-10) but you must “remember also your Creator” (12:1). This will guard you from living it up too much!

Remembering our Creator is especially important while we’re young, in good health and have the energy to enjoy Him – not just when we’re old and falling apart (12:1-7). So it’s OK to have fun on a weekend away from work or studies. It’s OK to be lighthearted while enjoying a meal with friends. It’s OK to get into a line of work that you really like. It’s OK to enjoy the pleasures of married life. All of these OKs and others are gifts of God to man. But remember to fear God and keep His commandments; and remember that our lives will be judged or reviewed (2 Cor. 5:10) for all our attitudes and actions.

The Lord knows our weaknesses and how easily we’re tempted to abuse His wonderful gifts. Let us follow these guidelines so that the “fun” activities of life are properly controlled. Remember also that God may purposely bring times of sorrow, times of testing and other less delightful times into our lives. Here the general attitude of being outwardly happy and enjoying life is certainly modified. Ecclesiastes takes these times into account too (3:4, 7:24).

The Old In Light Of The New
Every book of Scripture must be understood in the light of the teaching of the whole Bible and Ecclesiastes is no exception. For a growing Christian the application of these guidelines concerning the enjoyment of life must further take into account New Testament revelation. The overall message of Ecclesiastes is not changed in the New Testament. Consider 1 Timothy 6:17 for instance: “Instruct those who are rich ... not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.” Note how life is to be enjoyed as long as God and His guidelines are in the picture.

However, we also know from the New Testament that a Christian now has the privilege of giving up, for the sake of Christ, certain of God’s gifts to mankind. A Christian student for example may give up a good, fun-filled weekend away from school to help organize a Christian outreach program on campus. A Christian athlete may give up the benefits of a professional career in sports to serve the Lord as a leader of a struggling ministry. A Christian young person may give up the joys of family life to give his or her undivided attention to a foreign mission field.

Every growing Christian has the freedom to enjoy the rich supply of God’s good gifts, but we also have the privilege of denying ourselves certain joys of life as the Lord calls us to particular areas of service.

God is not a killjoy. The normal pattern of living which He desires for us includes the enjoyment of the life He has given us. But there must be balance in this area of Christian life. Ecclesiastes, properly understood in the context of the whole Bible, gives us God’s guidelines for living joyously.

By David R. Reid