Title: The Joy of Enjoying
Contents
♡♡♡ The joy of enjoying / Ec 2:18-26
*** Introduction
Are you familiar with the story of ‘Heungbujeon’? The story of Park Jeong-han Nolbu and good Heungbu must have been heard as a lesson since childhood. But these days, I often hear that Heungbu is incompetent and Nolbu is realistic. Could it be that accidents have changed over time?
The same is true of the story of ‘The Ant and the Grasshopper’. The story of an ant preparing for winter all summer long without being able to rest diligently and a gutsy guy who spent a lot of time singing and having fun is different now. Grasshoppers are lazy, weak-willed, and unfaithful insects, while ants are diligent, conscientious, and wise insects that know how to prepare. If the story goes on, the grasshoppers will starve and freeze to death, and the grasshoppers will continue to cry this year and next year. As long as there is land, there will always be ants and grasshoppers. So, in ‘New Ants and Grasshoppers’, there is a life that works like an ant, and a life that makes a weary life enjoyable with art through beautiful songs like a grasshopper.
The same lament of the wise man Solomon is found in the text of this hour. He confesses in verse 23, “All the days of my life, sorrow and toil are only sorrow, and even at night their heart does not rest; this is also in vain.”
It is said that the only thing that people get from their hard work is toil and sorrow. Still, people continue to dream of a world that may or may not be theirs, and lament that they are working hard.
In this way, people work all their lives to death, working until midnight without rest to secure a secure future. But one day, death suddenly strikes. Then, everything you have accumulated while working to death is passed on to someone else. Moreover, how futile and painful would it be if it passed on to someone who was just playing without lifting a finger? So, looking back on his life, Solomon lamented that “all the work I have done with my hands and all my hard work has been in vain, a chasing after the wind.”
In some ways, Solomon might seem like a pessimist. But he is not a pessimist, but a sure wise man of life. This is because, as a person who enjoyed unprecedented wealth and glory, he is teaching through his life what is the most valuable thing for a person to live. The conclusion of Ecclesiastes that Solomon emphasizes is in 12:13-14. “Now that you have heard the end of the matter, fear God and keep his commandments. This is the nature of man. God will judge every deed and every secret thing, good or evil.”
Then, how should we live to be evaluated as 'It was a valuable life'? In conclusion, it is about living the life you have been given. In other words, it means to live while enjoying the joy of enjoying. Is it considered too worldly and hedonistic? Let's examine this fact with the Word of God.
1. What is the result of this hard work of life?
In verses 18-23 of the text, Solomon said that the result of all life's hard work was 'in vain.' Why in vain?
1) It is because the successor will take over the things I have worked hard to build up.
Verse 18 says, “I have done all the toil that I have toiled under the sun, because I am leaving a legacy for those who will succeed me.” The successor may be a wise person or a foolish person, but in the end, he manages the work of his predecessors. There is a concern that the future generations may not be able to manage the intentions that he had planned when he started working, and that he might ruin it. If the posterity is foolish and loses the original purpose of work, it will be futile.
2) This is because someone else will take over the fruits of your hard work day and night throughout your life.
In verse 21, it says that even if you use all your wisdom, knowledge, and talents throughout your life to lay the groundwork by toiling day and night, in the end, the fruit will be possessed by someone else who has not worked hard. Here, the word “karma” means “divine fortune,” that is, “the blessing given to oneself to enjoy.”
Of course, people in the world cannot enjoy everything they have done. In addition, the development of civilization, economic growth, and social development in the world are all achieved by further development of future generations on the foundation laid by their predecessors. However, the evangelist's interest is not in worldly development or material growth, but in finding out what the true purpose of life is and what the purpose of life is.
3) This is because the fruits of life's toil are labor and sorrow.
In verses 22-23, Solomon laments. Rich and poor people all go through a lifetime. There may be differences in the quality of physical life, but everyone faces death after living a given lifetime. And when you stand in the face of death, you stand with the same qualifications and the same image. The rich and the poor, the president of a large corporation and the lowest employee alike will stand before death empty-handed. Job said, "Naked I went out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. The LORD gave and the LORD took away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (1:21).
In the end, the price of all life's hard work is 'death'. It is also 'empty-handed'. The reward for working without getting a proper rest for the rest of my life is 'death empty-handed', so wouldn't it be in vain?
2. Then, what is God's blessing on life?
Verse 24 says, “There is nothing better than that a man eat and drink, and let his soul rejoice in his toil… ” he said. In other words, life is the best way to live while enjoying the joy of the Spirit. But it is said that it is also from God's hand that we can enjoy this pleasure. Then, what did God allow people to enjoy?
Ecclesiastes 5:18 says, “I have seen good and beautiful that a man should eat and drink, and enjoy the pleasure out of all his hard work under the sun, which God has given him, and this is his portion.” Let's look at verses 9:7-10. There is the joy of sharing food, and we are told not to walk around in scruffy clothes, to be neatly dressed, to live happily with our beloved wife, and to work joyfully and diligently.
The gist of this verse is to serve God with joy while enjoying what God has given us. We should use what God gives us to serve God joyfully. In particular, God likes the saints to sing while they work. That is, he rejoices in living with a joyful heart.
In the New Testament, Jesus said in John 10:10, “I came that they might have life, and have it abundantly.” In 14:27, Jesus said, 'The peace of the Lord gives us.' In verse 16:33 he says, “I have given this name to you, that you may have peace in me.” In addition, 16:24 says, “Until now you have asked for nothing in my name, but ask. Then you will receive, and your joy may be full.” In this way, God wants His children to live in joy and peace.
God has given us everything so that we can work hard with this, serve God with joy, and have fun. Conversely, complaining, resentment, worry, worry, and depression are things that God hates, and the consequences are disastrous.
3. All results in life come from God.
Solomon finds true joy by turning from his doubts and despair over life's futile toil. Realize that the true joy of life is to rejoice and be content according to the providence of God the Creator. In other words, he realized that all the results of life come from God.
In this satisfying life, joy begins, gratitude begins, and you can enjoy a comfortable life. Therefore, it is said that the best life is to let the soul enjoy pleasure while eating, drinking, and toiling. All of these satisfactions and joys of life come from God. In Ecclesiastes 3:13, it says, “I also knew that it is the gift of God that every man eat and drink and find pleasure through his hard work.” In verse 19, “God gives to anyone riches and wealth, It is a gift from God that you have been able to enjoy it, and that you are able to enjoy it and rejoice in your hard work.” We have worked hard all our lives until we die, but we cannot enjoy it unless God permits us to. So, in verse 26, it says that God gives joy to those who please Him, but gives only hard work to sinners, and gives the accumulated wealth to those who please Him.
I pray that you will live a wise life that you enjoy serving God with joy rather than just focusing on building things without knowing where the end of your life is and when that time will be.