"We’re here for a good time, not a long time"
Hello Saints,
Forty-nine years ago, a song came out by the Canadian band Trooper with the title, “We’re here for a good time, not a long time”; I was thirteen years old! Four years later, another song by a Canadian band Triumph, had the lyrics, “I’m young, I’m wild and I’m free” in it. It was talking about the power of music to help us escape the reality of life. I remember them well. What messaging for young people, for teens trying to find the meaning of life. Music shaped my life back then. Buying my first stereo system to play my albums was a major deal – I saved a long time to buy the best I could afford. “Those were the good old days” many my age say as they look back at their adolescent years. I’m not so sure, but they certainly were carefree days, simpler, with less responsibility. I wasn’t thinking of RRSP’s and saving for the days I could no longer work, and Canada Pension Plan, and Old Age Security, and back pain, body aches, eating properly, exercise, etc. My motto was “Enjoy life! You never know how long you have!” Was I wrong?
Have you read the book of Ecclesiastes? My youthful music was just being biblical without even knowing it! “I recommend having fun, because there is nothing better for people to do in this world than to eat, drink, and enjoy life” (Ecc. 8:15 NLT). Or how about, “Young man, it's wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it. Do everything you want to do; take it all in” (Ecc. 11:9 NLT). Sounds just like the songs I used to listen to! That’s the devil talking! Or is it? Well, they are direct quotes from the Bible, but I left part of the verses off, which the devil is really good at doing – twisting the Word of God. Verse 8:15 finishes with, “That way they will experience some happiness along with all the hard work God gives them” and 11:9 finishes with, “But remember that you must give an account to God for everything you do”. What secular music does often, whether geared to young people or any age group for that matter, is leave God out of the picture. Without accountability to God, we are free to do whatever we want, nonetheless, there will still be consequences, which secular music rarely tells you about.
So what about having fun? Is God a cosmic killjoy or what? I don’t believe so! Actually, the fascinating thing about the book of Ecclesiastes, written by the richest, wisest man who ever lived, King Solomon, is that enjoying life seems to be the best way to glorify God with all that He has given us. Life on earth, ‘under the sun’ is hard on every level – work, pain and suffering, broken relationships and broken hearts, sickness of body and soul, death, poverty and prosperity, etc.
Solomon writes,
So, what do people get for all their hard work? Their days of labor are filled with pain and grief; even at night they cannot rest. It is all utterly meaningless. So, I decided there is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink and to find satisfaction in work. Then I realized that this pleasure is from the hand of God. For who can eat or enjoy anything apart from him? God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy to those who please him. (Ecc. 2:22-26 NLT)
Pleasure and joy are from God, to make the difficulty of life more bearable! The Apostle Paul reiterates the words of Solomon, “Tell those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which will soon be gone. But their trust should be in the living God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment” (1Tim. 6:17 NLT). Trust God; enjoy life and all He has given us. “It is a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life-- that is indeed a gift from God' (Ecc. 5:19 NLT). God knows life is hard, that death is always immanent – we never know how long we have. This seems to be the context when Solomon writes, “Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favors what you do” (Ecc. 9:7 NIV). Solomon discovers that God has created everything, placed it on Earth for His humans to enjoy and has given a “time” for everything (Ecc. 3). We are here today and gone tomorrow, and with grateful hearts, should enjoy what God has put here while we have time to enjoy it. “So, I concluded that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to enjoy themselves as long as they can. And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God” (Ecc. 3:12-13 NLT).
Turns out that God wanting His creatures to enjoy Him and all He has given us is a major theme in the book of Ecclesiastes. Grumpy, gloomy, miserable Christians are not really good examples of people enjoying all that God has given us. “The joy of the Lord is our strength”; Jesus wanted His joy to be in us (John 15:11). Take it from a man who had it all…Solomon says, life is hard, often ‘meaningless’, which actually, literally means ‘a vapor or breath’, here today and gone tomorrow. So what are we going to do with what God has given us? Enjoy the life He has given us with grateful hearts. Take it all in without being disobedient to His guiding truth. If you’re married, enjoy life together (Ecc. 9:9). If you’re breathing, praise God and enjoy all He has given you, whether a lot or little. The longer I live the more I realize that joy comes from the simple things God has given me – “the wife of my youth”, time, peace, ability to walk, and canoe, and fish, and sing, and great food, friends, family, etc. He’s given me all things for my enjoyment; I bring glory to Him when I enjoy His gifts. So, in the words of Trooper and Solomon, “We're here for a good time, Not a long time So have a good time, The sun can't shine every day” and “I have noticed one thing, at least, that is good. It is good for people to eat well, drink a good glass of wine, and enjoy their work-- whatever they do under the sun-- for however long God lets them live” (Ecc. 5:18 NLT).
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. (1Cor. 10:31)
Peace and Joy to y'all
"Advancing the Kingdom of God by releasing Spirit-filled followers to serve Jesus in freedom and joy."
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