enjoyment

Leviticus 23, Ecclesiastes 6, Psalm 109

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Rumble | YouTube | SermonAudio | Calvary Bible Church

Read Leviticus 23, Ecclesiastes 6, and Psalm 109.

This devotional is about Ecclesiastes 6.

This lifetime on earth offers us some incredible experiences. If life goes well, a person will be born into a loving family, have everything he or she needs to live, get an education, find a mate who will open a new dimension of love, have children who will open yet another dimension of love, possibly find a fulfilling career or, at the very least, one that will provide for a stable family life.

In addition to these blessings, many people will find friends to share experiences with, will enjoy watching many beautiful sunrises and sunsets, will hear music that enthralls them, will know what it feels like to win a tough game against a really good opponent, will taste food that they will never forget, and travel to places which will always be special in their memories.

That’s if all goes well….

However, it doesn’t always work that way, does it? Some people are born blind and will never see that beautiful sunset. Some are born to broken homes or have parents who will abuse them. Some grow up in excruciating poverty. Some will never learn to read. Some will never know what it feels like to be in love. Some will die in a tragic accident or through some kind of physical illness and will never live to see their kids grow up. Some people will experience a heartbreaking combination of these events; they will wonder why life has been so cruel to them.

Then there are others who experience success in life but can never enjoy the rewards of that success. That seems to be who Solomon has in mind here in Ecclesiastes 6:1-2. They succeed at life (“they lack nothing their hearts desire”) but die young before they can enjoy their success or they miss out in some other way. In the words of verse 2c: “….God does not grant them the ability to enjoy them, and strangers enjoy them instead.” In verses 3-6 Solomon says that someone who never made it out of the womb alive is better than the person who attained what they want in life but never could enjoy the results. This is just one of Solomon’s many laments in this book—a still frame in an unhappy video about the problems of life. These problems are caused by the curse that comes from sin. Whether a person suffers from poverty, or lives life alone and unloved, or has a broken body, or dies young, or is wealthy but unhealthy, nobody gets everything out of life that life could potentially offer to us all. The problem is not that God creates a cruel world that promises us pleasure but sticks us with pain instead. The problem is that the beautiful world that God created has been broken by sin. Because humanity defied God’s instruction, we all find heartache and sorrow and pain and lack of fulfillment in this life to some degree or other. Some of us feel it so intensely that the only word that can describe life is “unfair.”

This reality is immune to pious platitudes, quick fixes, or positive thinking. Even when someone’s life goes spectacularly well, there are always regrets, disappointments, grief, and sorrow. Ecclesiastes is a long meditation on the frustrating enigmas of life. Instead of telling us that “it’ll be OK eventually,” he will later tell us just to fear God, obey his word, and enjoy what we can. It’s good advice and we’d all do well to obey it. But we can’t even do that; the capacity to just “fear God and obey his word” was lost by humanity on the same day we lost paradise.

This is why Christ gives us such hope. Although he has not chosen, yet, to fix this broken and painful reality, he has shown us his love and promised us a better life—eternal life, if we trust him and follow him no matter what. If you’re discouraged today by circumstances around you, remember that your frustration is the symptom of a world that is suffering under sin and its consequences. Instead of bemoaning what is lost, look to Christ in faith. In him is the promise of life in his kingdom that will be perfection itself and will never end.

Exodus 20, Job 38, Psalm 68

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Rumble | YouTube | SermonAudio | Calvary Bible Church

Read Exodus 20, Job 38, and Psalm 68.

This devotional is about Exodus 20.

Here it is: the original Big 10. Although God later gave these commands to Moses on a tablet, the commands given in this chapter were spoken by the voice of God and all the people of Israel heard his voice. We see that in verse 1 which says, “And God spoke all these words” and in verse 19 where the people “said to Moses, “‘Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.’”

This is really what separates the Ten Commandments from the rest of God’s laws given in by Moses. The Ten Commandments were not more inspired or more important to Israel than the rest of God’s commands. They were simply the ones that God gave audibly, directly to his people while the rest of his commands were mediated through Moses.

Still, the Ten Commandments are important because they apply to everyone and teach general principles that can be applied in many ways. Many of God’s other laws are more specific either in audience or in application.

Of all the Ten Commandments, there is only one in particular that does not apply to us, according to many Christians. The one I’m talking about is the Fourth Commandment: “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy…” (vv. 8-11). The way Israel was to “keep it holy” was for everyone to rest, just as God did on the first Sabbath day. Everyone was to rest–man and animal alike; no exceptions.

This command was a gift to God’s people. In the days of Moses and beyond, the vast majority of people lived in near poverty. They were able to produce enough to stay alive, but that’s about it. Imagine how fearful you would be in those conditions. The idea of taking a day off could mean starvation for you and everyone else in your family. Fear would keep you working non-stop, every day, every week, every year, for as long as there was daylight outside. A family in these conditions may stay alive, but how much can you enjoy a life where the work never ends? By observing the Sabbath, God’s people put their trust in him fully to provide for them. They could trust God by sleeping in, lazing about, talking with family and friends, and recharging their proverbial batteries.

By the time of Jesus, the Sabbath was transformed from a day of rest into a day of religious performance. Instead of being a blessing to God’s people, it became a burden to them by making them objects of judgment by judgmental people. I agree that Jesus liberated us from this law; we are not commanded as Christians to observe the Sabbath.

But how much better off would we be physically and spiritually if we did rest one day, every week? Think about how harried and anxious we are much of the time. We may not fear starving, but we do seem to fear missing out on some activity or making our kids’s coaches mad, or losing a job that requires you to be available at all times. You don’t have to treat Sunday like the Pharisees treated the Sabbath. But wouldn’t your life be better if you protected Sunday for rest and worship?

And, isn’t it an act of faith to draw some boundaries around Sunday to enjoy the rest and relationship renewal that God wants you to have?

Exodus 15, Job 33, Psalm 63

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Rumble | YouTube | SermonAudio | Calvary Bible Church

Read Exodus 15, Job 33, Psalm 63.

This devotional is about Psalm 63.

The human body can live for a few weeks without food, for a few days without water, and for a few minutes without oxygen. If your body is deprived of any of these things for long enough, it will be difficult for you to think about anything else. If you can’t breathe and will die in a few minutes, you won’t care how you’re going to pay the mortgage next month or whether the Lions will draft a quarterback in the first round.

The superscription to this Psalm claims that David wrote it “in the Desert of Judah.” In verse 11, he refers to himself as “the king” so the setting of this passage may be when David fled from Absalom his son. Although he was not in immediate danger of starvation or dehydration, David was in a state of deprivation. He was cut off from the water springs of Jerusalem and from “the richest of foods” he would have enjoyed in his palace. What David craved in the desert, however, was not water or food; it was God. “You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.”

Out in the Judean desert, David was deprived of God in the sense that he couldn’t see God “in the sanctuary”—that is, the Tabernacle—anymore. He couldn’t offer sacrifices, sing with the people, or hear the Torah read and explained. Living in exile, excluded from the comforts and necessities of life, David longed for God more than anything else. He believed that, “I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods” when he rejoiced in God.

None of us knows what it is like to run for your life into the desert. But some people–maybe some reading this, even–know what it is like to have all our financial reserves stripped away and to be evicted from your home. Others know what it is like to lose your family in tragedy or divorce. In our moments of deprivation–and desperation–do we long for fellowship with God or simply for him to deliver us from discomfort? The Bible encourages us to enjoy everything we have–family, material goods, good weather, whatever–as gifts of God. But this Psalm calls us to believe that nothing can satisfy us like knowing and worshipping God can (vv. 1, 5, 11). Does your walk with God give you that kind of joy and satisfaction?

1 Chronicles 18, Zechariah 11, Proverbs 27:1-13

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Read 1 Chronicles 18, Zechariah 11, and Proverbs 27:1-13.

This devotional is about Proverbs 27:7.

Thanksgiving is almost here but, when it is over, you will probably have food leftover. Maybe you don’t mind eating turkey for several days in a row, but leftovers–from thanksgiving or other meals–are not always the most exciting thing to eat.

That illustrates one of our proverbs for today, Proverbs 27:7: “One who is full loathes honey from the comb….” Honey was one of the best tasting treats available in the days of Solomon. There was no ice cream, or Snickers bars, or pumpkin pie. If you wanted sweets, you ate fruit or honey. But, if you’ve had too much to eat already, you wouldn’t want to eat even a tasty treat like honey.

That is what happens to people who get everything they want. They become entitled and no longer value what they have or what is offered to them.

By contrast, verse 7b says, “…but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet.” When someone doesn’t have much, that person has a greater capacity to enjoy what he or she receives.

Do you find it hard to feel grateful about your life this week? If so, give some thought to what you have. Earlier in your life you might have been thrilled to have the life you have now. There are probably people around you–people that you know–who look at your life and don’t understand why you are so unhappy all the time.

In an imperfect, sin-cursed world, there are always reasons to be unhappy about something. But the truth is that there are people who are much worse off than you are. If you can think about what it would be like to be “hungry” again, maybe God will use this Proverb to help you and me be grateful for what we have instead of complaining about how our bellies ache.

Exodus 28, Ecclesiastes 4, Psalms 33-35

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Read Exodus 28, Ecclesiastes 4, and Psalms 33-35.

This devotional is about Ecclesiastes 4.

This chapter of scripture is not encouraging.

That is an understatement.

This chapter of scripture is bleak. It states in verse 1 that powerful people in this world used their power to oppress the weak and vulnerable. These victims “have no comforter.” Their lives are a miserable stretch of existence. From birth to grave, each day and night, they do what more powerful people want them to do and live in fear. What kind of fear?

  • fear of displeasing those powerful people
  • fear of more invasive abuse from the powerful
  • fear of starving, unable to provide a living for themselves because their abusers take so much from them

Although Solomon did not tell us how many were oppressed and how many were oppressors, the chapter may suggest that the vast majority were oppressed by a small minority. The way the chapter suggests this is in the words of verses 2-3. Those verses rank the happiest people from least happiest to most happy. The categories of people Solomon discussed were broad–the dead, the living, and the unborn. Those three broad groups include a whole lot of people. So who is the happiest?

  • The living are the least happy because they are oppressed (v. 1, 2c-d).
  • The dead are the next most happy because they are no longer oppressed (v. 2 a-b).
  • But the happiest people of all are people who never lived at all (v. 3). Why? Because they have “not seen the evil that is done under the sun.”

Bleak, right? According to Solomon, you are better off dead. But, you’re best off if you never made it out of the womb alive in the first place because then no one could use and abuse you.

Of course, not everyone is enslaved by others. Some people go out and achieve, making all their dreams come true. They must be happy, right?

No, Solomon argued, because “all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another” (v. 4). Envy is a desire to have what someone else has. That can make you work hard but you won’t enjoy achievements because your envy will move on to someone higher on the achievement ladder. If you could just enjoy the living you make, modest though it is (v. 6a), you’d be better off than a wealthier person who is does nothing but work, driven by envy.

Even a person who had no wife, no siblings, and no children isn’t happy (v. 8). Solomon thought that a single, solitary man should be happy because he only has to provide for himself. He can work hard enough to get what he wants and then spend it all on himself with no guilt. A single man who makes $30,000 per year may be able to buy more pleasure than a man who makes $90,000 but supports a wife, five kids, a dog, and a deadbeat brother.

Seems logical; but it doesn’t work out that way. The single guy with no dependents still works really hard. “There was no end to his toil” (v. 8c) says but “his eyes were not content with his wealth” (v. 8d). He, too, was sucked into envy, unable to enjoy his life because he needed to prove to someone that he matters.

I told you this was bleak.

But all is not lost. The solution to this partnership. Verses 9-12 commends a partnership of two (v. 9) or even three (v. 12c). Partners who work together instead of envying one another can:

  • produce more as a unit and they could on their own (v. 9b)
  • give each other some time off when they are injured or sick or just tired (v. 10)
  • keep each other company (v. 11)
  • protect each other (v. 12).

So the man who makes $90k and has to split it up with others is happier than the single guy who makes $30k and can do whatever he wants with it. In fact, if the single guy made $90k or even $900k, the man with partners is happier because of the benefits that partners bring.

When God created Adam, he made the most capable man who ever lived–apart from Jesus Christ, of course. Adam, while he was still an unfallen person, had a greater mind and better body than any of us because he wasn’t afflicted by the curse of sin.

Yet God said it wasn’t good for him to be alone. He gave him a partner–even knowing that his partner’s (aka, Eve’s) weakness would lead him into sin. Having a life partner in your spouse or a business partner in your vocation can help you escape the hopeless life that the oppressed live. Even if you are oppressed, at least you have someone to keep you warm at night (v. 11).

Solomon was a powerful man who oppressed others. He taxed the nation so thoroughly for his own projects, pleasures, and luxuries that the people begged his son to lay off and then they revolted against him when he wouldn’t.

But Solomon seems to have been a lonely man, despite his wealth and power over others. If you have 1000 women in your life, can any one of them truly be your partner?

People can be the source of your greatest problems in life. They can make promises that they fail to keep or even intentionally break. They can see you as a rival when they should see you as an ally. If you have enough people-problems, you may be tempted to decide that isolation is better.

This chapter advises us to partner up. Share life generously with your partner–your spouse, your children, your business partner(s), your teammates. The benefits of companionship will outweigh the “freedom” that being alone promises. God created us to be teammates and the life he gave us is best enjoyed when it is shared.

If you have a partnership–a marriage and family, a business partnership, a ministry partnership, etc.–are you a good partner? Are you thankful for the benefits that partnership brings you or do you selfishly wish you had all the control and all the benefits to yourself?

If your partnership is broken, the answer isn’t to go off on your own; it is to become and build a true partnership rather than a rivalry based on envy.