Behold what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil-this is the gift of God. For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.
Is this why I do not remember the loss, suffering or evil that has crossed my life's path?
Have I been occupied with joy?
I don't describe myself as one who has great joy but I do not dwell on the disparities of life. I love my life and am thankful to God for the way things are. Yes, even the trials and great losses have brought me to a better place. I'm not wealthy and nor have great possessions, but I truly enjoy what I have.
Wealth and possessions can be in the eye of the beholder. Compared to Hollywood, I'm very poor. But to the starving nations of Africa, I am very wealthy.
But neither poverty nor wealth is what makes a person filled with joy. God is the one who keeps me occupied with joy. These are more verses from Ecclesiastes that remind me to enjoy my life because it is God's gift to me.
- 2:24-26 eat and drink and find enjoyment in work, apart from Him who can have enjoyment?
- 3:12-13 be joyful, take pleasure, this is God's gift to man
- 8:15 man has nothing better than to eat and drink and be joyful, it will go with him in his toil
- 9:7 eat bread with joy, drink wine with a merry heart, God has approved what you do
- 11:8 - if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all
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