“God has already approved your works”
[Ecclesiastes 9:7-10]
What kind of pleasure do you have these days? What joy are you having as you live day by day? Even though we are living in a world where there are a lot of sadness, the Bible says “Rejoice always"(1 Thess. 5:16). Are we rejoicing always? What should we do to rejoice always? We must obey the commandments of God. In other words, we can rejoice always when we live in obedience to the Word of God. And when we live in obedience to the Word of God, God will be pleased with us.
When we look at Ecclesiastes 9:7, this is what King Solomon says: “Go then, eat your bread in happiness and drink your wine with a cheerful heart; for God has already approved your works.” I asked the question, “Whom does God approve?” The answer is those who live according to the Word of God (Park Yun-sun). And those who live according to the word of God live happily. I want to think about how those who are pleased with God live happily in four ways based on Ecclesiastes 9:7-10. May God bless us with His word.
First, those who are approved by God will eat and drink with joy.
Look at Ecclesiastes 9:7a – “Go then, eat your bread in happiness and drink your wine with a cheerful heart; ….” Those who are approved by God will live in obedience to God's Word, and God blesses them. What blessing does God give to them? Look at Ecclesiastes 2:24 – “There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God.” The blessing God gives to those who obey the Word is God allows them to eat and drink joyfully. Are we enjoying this blessing of God? When I think about the image of eating and drinking in Ecclesiastes 2:24 and 9:7, this reminds me “a feast”. And when I think of the "feast" or "banquet", I remembered the Ghana wedding feast in John 2. Then, I remembered a lecture about Pastor Tim Keller's Cana wedding feast recently. The challenge of the lecture was 'The Kingdom of God is feast'. Then, our life should be a feast every day since we believe in Jesus Christ. This is because Jesus, the King of the kingdom of God, dwells in us as the Holy Spirit. Like the church, when our believers come together, we must eat, drink, and rejoice like a feast. In this sense, when we receive the bread and the cup symbolizing the flesh and blood of Jesus, we, who commemorate the death of Jesus' cross, should be glad to eat and drink. The reason is that not only did all our sins be forgiven by Jesus' death on the cross, but when Jesus comes back we will go to Heaven and join the wedding of the Lamb. Those who are approved by God are happy to eat and drink with joy, and every day is a feast for them.
Second, those who are approved by God will live a pure and joyful life.
Look at Ecclesiastes 9:8 – “Let your clothes be white all the time, and let not oil be lacking on your head.” Here, the word “Let your clothes be white all the time” means our life must always be pure. And the word “let not oil be lacking on your head” means always have joy in our lives (Radmacher). What King Solomon is saying that the life that God is pleased to receive is to live a pure and joyful life. When I meditated on this word, I thought that there was a connection between purity and joy. In other words, there is joy to those who live the pure life. But for those who do not live the pure life, there will be no joy. The reason is because sin can never give us joy. Eventually, those who please God obey God's Word and seek the pure life that enjoys freedom from sin. If we want to be God-pleasing, then we must pursue the pure life. And if we want to enjoy the joy that God gives us, then we must pursue the purity of our hearts. Why? That's because God sees our hearts. We can do all kinds of sins in our hearts while we live the pure life in front of people, but we can not deceive God who knows everything. Therefore, we must live a life in pursuing the purity of the heart before the holy God. To do so, we rely on the blood of Jesus on the cross and confess and repent our sins every day. We must throw the sins of our hearts on the cross. In doing so, we will be able to enjoy the joy of freedom from sin, and the joy of the pure heart.
Third, those who are approved by God will enjoy living with their beloved spouse.
Look at Ecclesiastes 9:9 – “Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given to you under the sun; for this is your reward in life and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun.” King Solomon tells us that in this vain world, the reward in our life and in our toil is enjoy living with the loving wife whom God has given us. He says that in order to please God, we should enjoy a feast to eat and drink (v. 7), a pure life (v. 8) and our beloved wife (v. 9). Listen to the words of King Solomon in the Proverbs: “He who finds a wife finds a good thing And obtains favor from the LORD (18:22), “House and wealth are an inheritance from fathers, But a prudent wife is from the LORD” (19:14). The lives of those who are approved by God are those who humbly enjoy the blessing of his wife whom God has given. As God commands, they love their wives as Jesus loves the church. They are please with their wife and delighted in her like Jesus delights in the church. Do we delight with our spouse? Do we enjoy living with our dear spouse?
This Monday I went to the YMCA to work out. And in the locker room, I heard an 80 years old man talking to another old man. The 80 years old man told another man that his 60th year of wedding anniversary was coming soon. When the man heard him saying that, he asked him, ‘How could you live with your wife that long in the midst of many divorces in these days?’ Then the 80 years old man answered, ‘It was because my wife was patience with me.’ Haha. Then he said, “We have a lot of similarities and trust each other.” When I heard him saying that, I could feel that the 80 years old man loves his wife. Nowadays, as the other man said, there are many divorces and remarriages. How should we love our wives in such a social flow? This is what Proverbs 5:18-19 says: “May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. A loving doe, a graceful deer-- may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be captivated by her love.” We should always be satisfied with her bosom. If not, then we will turn to another woman and will constantly gaze into her. And eventually we will have affair with her and commit adultery
Lastly, those who are approved by God will work hard with all their might.
Look at Ecclesiastes 9:10 – “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might; for there is no activity or planning or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.” According to Pastor Wiersbe, the Jews did not see work as a curse, but as a stewardship from God (Wiersbe). In other words, the Jews did their work with divine calling in their work. They were the stewards of God who had done what God had entrusted to them. From this point of view, considering Ecclesiastes 9:10, King Solomon seems to be exhorting us: 'Find your work and work hard’ and ‘When you are able to work, do your best.’ Why do you think King Solomon is exhorting us to work hard when we can work? The reason is that there comes the night when we can not work. While we are living in this world, we should be able to enjoy doing the Lord's work. If we continue to complain and complain when we work in the workplace or in the church, how difficult is it? Especially if we do not have a clear sense of mission, then we will not be able to work harder and enjoy the work itself. We must have stewardship like the Apostle Paul in the New Testament. We must have a stewardship from God when we serve the Lord or work in the workplace. If we are clear sense of mission and stewardship, we will be able to work hard and enjoy working. This is what people do those who are approved by God. I hope and pray that we will be able to do our work our best with stewardship.
What kind of people should we be? We must be people whom God approves. To do so, we must obey God's Word as we fear God. Also we ought to eat in happiness and drink your with cheerful heart (v. 7). We must live a pure and joyful life (v. 8). We must live happily with our loving spouse (v.9). We must work hard when we can work (v. 10). Therefore, I hope and pray that we can please God.