enjoyment

And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 8:15

God loves it when we find joy in life. He is the Giver of all good things. And this wisdom from God’s Word is commendable and to be put into practice. God wants us to enjoy our lives! And what brings delight to us will also bring delight to Him.

Now to be clear, there is a difference between everlasting joy as God has made it for us to experience, and brief sinful pleasures. And there is a pure delight in God and His world that is vastly different than selfish pursuit of a sinful passion. The best way to see this is in the area of sex, where sexual expression between a husband and wife can be this amazing pure joy given by God, but seeking pleasure selfishly or beyond marriage through sex brings only temporary pleasure and ultimately disappointing heartache and pain.

Other life pleasures can be celebrated in God’s design. We have the capacity to thoroughly enjoy food and drink, socializing and entertainment, music and culture, nature and beauty, all within the balance of love and the worship of our Creator. He has given us lots of pleasures to enjoy wholeheartedly as His gifts to us, even in a tough, less-then-perfect world marred as a result of sin’s curse. We have such an enormous capacity for joy! We should experience it.

Personally, I choose joy. I find it in conversations with people. I find it in a mountain view... on a beach at sunset... in a stream releasing a healthy fish... or in the sheer quiet enjoyment of a good book by a warm fire. It is known most in the joy of sins forgiven and life set free in Jesus. Joy is God’s gift and I will celebrate it in worship of the One Who gave it!