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
