Enjoying the Moment 

Ecclesiastes 3:9-14

Jim Davis

It seems as though we are forever either living in the future or in the past. We either dream of what will be or relish the good old days. We never seem to find joy in the present. Have you ever been in such a hurry to eat that you swallow food so fast you don’t really taste it? Maybe you swallow food like a person in a hotdog eating contest. Have you ever been in such a hurry to get from point A to point B in life that you fail to enjoy the journey? Sadly, in our instantaneous world this is our approach to everything from our most intimate moments to washing dishes. We never seem to enjoy the moment. Today’s frenetic pace of life robs us of an abundant, joyful and victorious life. It leaves many of us relishing the past. 

To me the Bible is so believable. It is a book from ancient times, but there is no other book in all of antiquity that reveals the nature of man more clearly. There in those ancient chapters we are given the formula for choosing life over death. The first chapters of the Bible reveal our greatest weakness—failing to discover the joy of the moment—what we already possess. It seems as if we are seeking to live in the future or in the past and are never satisfied with the present. 

It wasn’t so much that God didn’t want Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit in Eden. He wanted them to learn how to enjoy what they already possessed—paradise. God gave them one rule to live by—but breaking that one simple rule, in essence would violate every rule. The Ten Commandments had not yet been given. The law was not written on tablets of stoned, but every precept was written upon their hearts in this one commandment. Breaking that one rule would break every law on honoring God and mankind. 

It is amazing that when we break just one commandment God has given we in essence break them all. Violating that one command in Eden wreaked havoc. It violated every commandment. Every commandment was wrapped up in that one rule. The Bible often reveals how all the commandments are wrapped up into one rule. 

Romans 13:8-10
8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself."   10 Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. NIV

No sooner is the world destroyed by a flood and man turns to building a tower to make a name for self (Genesis 11:3). This ancient story reveals how humankind is consumed in a relentless pursuit of something better or something greater. We can’t appreciate what we already possess. Solomon had trouble enjoying the moment. 

Ecclesiastes 2:10-11
10 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; 
I refused my heart no pleasure. 
My heart took delight in all my work, 
and this was the reward for all my labor. 
11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done 
and what I had toiled to achieve, 
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; 
nothing was gained under the sun. NIV

Ecclesiastes 2:21-23
 22 What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? 23 All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless. NIV

Somewhere in the equation of life we need to figure out how to enjoy the present. Our minds flitter from thoughts about our past to our thoughts about the future. 

Ecclesiastes 8:15
15 So I commend the enjoyment of life, because nothing is better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany him in his work all the days of the life God has given him under the sun. NIV

Trading our Lives for Our Illusive Dreams

I watched the movie “The Box” and thought how true the story line was to real life. A couple is offered a million dollars to push a button on a box. The couple was told that when they pushed the button, someone would die. It wouldn’t be someone they knew, but someone would die. What they weren’t told was what pushing the button would ultimately cost them. The story line revealed how the consequences of pushing the button affected the lives of others, and ultimately dire consequences came back to them. 

The couple in the movie “The Box” was told someone out of the billions of people on earth would die. They were not told that there would be consequences to come back on them. Their greed drove them. If they didn’t push the button, would they go through life haunted by what, perhaps, could have been. If they pushed the button someone they didn’t know or had never seen would die.

 It was much different in Eden. God informed Adam and Eve that they would certainly die. In Eden God was up front with Adam and Eve.

Genesis 2:15-17
The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." NIV

Satan distorted their view. He convinced them they could have more, deserved more and it was theirs for the taking.

Genesis 3:4-7
4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 

6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. NIV

They were already like God. They were made in his image. God was sharing not only himself with them as he walked and talked with them in Eden. He was sharing his creative purpose with them. They were given the task of tilling the ground, planting seed, naming the animals. It wasn’t a curse. It was purpose. It gave them purpose. The curse came after they chose to disobey. God was allowing them to celebrate in his creation as procreators.  They already had a life. They were given the greatest task on earth—to engage in God’s creation as partners with God. They were given dominion over the earth. They squandered paradise dreaming of something better. 

Sometimes we humans are somewhat like my Dachshund. She has several toys, but her most joyous moment is when I pull off my dirty socks and give them to her. She runs around like she has a new toy.

Ecclesiastes 3:9-14
9 What does the worker gain from his toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on men. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. 13 That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil — this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him. NIV

I have watched Sir David Attenborough documentaries of natural history. It is amazing to watch his films of our natural world. How birds, frogs and insects are constantly adapting, changing and overcoming the obstacles to life. How they change color, shapes, and habits to adapt to their surroundings is amazing. Sir David sees it as a natural process. In it I see the hand of the Creator sharing his abundant life giving force with everything. He is designing, redesigning and forever recreating and reshaping his original creation. 

It is no wonder God placed the first couple in the garden to till it. He wanted the couple he had given life to have a part in bringing things to life in the garden. He wanted them to share in his creative force as they tilled the ground, planted seed, pruned trees and named the animals. He wanted them to share in his creative purpose as they watched seed grow and the animals multiply.  

Today we can observe animal life evolving and adapting all around us. Through our exploration of space we can behold God’s creative forces as he continues to create new stars and galaxies millions of light years away. Mankind has never had a better vantage point from which to see the handy work of our creator. 

I can’t imagine God’s creative purposes ending when we reach heaven. We will be an integral part of his eternal creative plan. We may very well be placed in a universe much like our own without the restrictions of what should have or would have been. 

Imagine living in the presence of God whose eternal purpose will be to share his life giving force with each of us as we allow him to work in and through us. We search for peace and happiness on earth, but just imagine living eternally as God fills us with joy and eternal pleasures. 

Psalms 16:9-11
9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure, 
10 because you will not abandon me to the grave, 
nor will you let your Holy One see decay. 
11 You have made known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand. NIV

Throughout the Psalms the writers see their destinies guarded securely in the hands of an eternal God. God has an eternal purpose for every life. Eternity forces me to wonder what this life could have been. Imagine living eternally where there will be no limitations, nothing restricting us from living up to our God given potential. If there is any limitation, it will be only that God will be glorified in all he created us to be. Yet, this will only enhance our eternal potential. The following verse was written to Israel in ancient times in a much different situation than we find ourselves. Yet, the verse has the ring of eternity in it. 

Isaiah 60:19
19 The sun will no more be your light by day,
nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you,
for the LORD will be your everlasting light,
and your God will be your glory. NIV

Paul looks at life from an eternal perspective. 

2 Corinthians 5:1-5
5:1 Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, 3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. 
NIV

The purpose for which God made each of us is eternity. Our mortality will be swallowed up by eternal life. Imagine our lives swallowed up by eternal life. 

1 John 3:1-3
3:1 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure. 
NIV

Without the Loss of Eden

We can only dream of a life as it was meant to be in Eden. We look around us and see the universe is forever expanding. We dream of finding life in worlds beyond ours. We dream of establishing life on other planets. This may have very well been our destiny before the limitations of a lost Eden. I can’t imagine there being any limitations placed on Gods children in eternity. If there is any limitation, it will be that we must allow God to glorify himself through us. I can’t begin to imagine what God could do with a life totally energized by his power and purpose. 

John 14:1-7
14:1 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going."  

5 Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" 

6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him." NIV

I can hardly imagine what life will be when we follow Christ into eternity. Picture this—when Jesus ascended to heaven he went to prepare a place for each of us. In the beginning he was there creating our world. Now he is out there somewhere creating another world for us. His entire existence is wrapped up in sharing himself—his eternal purpose with us. Eternal life will be wrapped around sharing the greatest thing we have with others—life. God is moving around us in us and through us as he shares himself—his life giving force with us in this world. It is the purpose for which we were created. Eternal life will be about lives being shared with God and all those who are saved.  

We live in a world where could have been, should have been, ought to have been continually haunt and torment. For the child of God all of this will be eternally missing in the place Christ is preparing for those who follow him. I dream of a world not much different from the one in which we live with the exception that God will be our light and we will reign with him forever. 

Solomon gives us a clue to what life ought to be. Solomon writes, “I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil — this is the gift of God” (Ecclesiastes 3:12-13). 

The only way to find satisfaction in the present is to invite God into our lives moment by moment. It is the only way to enjoy the moment. It is a great way to begin to enjoy our eternal inheritance in the presence. Imagine a decision to walk with God moment by moment. David learned how to enjoy the present. He walked through the valley of the shadow of death with God with his eye on eternity.

Psalms 23
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. 
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters, 
3 he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness 
for his name's sake. 
4 Even though I walk 
through the valley of the shadow of death, 
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me. 

5 You prepare a table before me 
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows. 
6 Surely goodness and love will follow me 
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever. NIV

Conclusion:

Revelations 22:1-5
22:1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. NIV

Daniel 7:18
18 But the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will possess it forever — yes, for ever and ever.' NIV

1 Peter 1:3-7
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade — kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that your faith — of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire — may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. NIV