The Best Life

Scripture passage that caught my attention today: Ecclesiastes 2:24-25 There is nothing better for mortals than to eat and drink, and find enjoyment in their toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God; 25 for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?

Observation: This passage comes shortly before the famous “there is a time for everything” chapter in Ecclesiastes. It also comes after the writer bemoans the fact that both the wise and the foolish experience the same fate.

Application: So often in life we strive in order to get. What we ‘get’ often varies. It might be recognition or prestige or a legacy or a position of ‘influence’ or any number of different things. Yet what happens to any of it upon our death or other form of detachment is completely beyond our control. The author of Ecclesiastes realizes such things and hits the nail on the head when he remarks that that best way to live is simply to find enjoyment in our toil. He sees such toil, in fact, as a gift from God.

Neither Ecclesiastes nor I would limit the definition of “toil” to official employment, though at times that could indeed be the case. Rather, Ecclesiastes, once confronted with the fact that the fate of the wise and foolish is not all that different, advocates a spirit of thanksgiving no matter what. Such an attitude can make for a fine start to most any day.

Prayer: Lord, thanks for the abundant opportunities that you provide and for the reminder that, when one enjoys them, there is “nothing better.” In Jesus’ name. Amen.

(readings today included: Ecclesiastes 1-3, Psalm 45, Ephesians 2)