Goods and Pleasure – Ecclesiasties 2:10
All that my eyes desired I did not refuse them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all my labor and this was my reward for all my labor.
God looked over all that He had created, the mountains and the plains, the plants and trees that covered them, the animals that roamed them, the seas and the fish that inhabited them, and the people whom He had made in His own image, and He saw all that He had made and considered that it was good.[1]
We too behold God’s creation and should perceive that it is good. As we look over all that He gives for our use, for our sustenance and for our pleasure, to gladden our hearts, we all called to receive it with thanksgiving.[2] Great should be our rejoicing over His love for us, out of which He gives us every blessing under heaven and earth. Complete should be our joy in the richness of His provision for us. Absolute should be our trust as we look to our Father in gratitude and pursue Him in faith. Great should be our rejoicing as we set our minds on the everlasting things of the Spirit, and rest, knowing the Father will grant us full lives and enduring peace.[3]
Such should be the heart’s condition of those who love God, but sorrowfully, we often look away from our Provider saying, “What He has given me is not enough, for it does not satisfy me.” We shift our eyes from the eternal to the material, allowing the desire for goods and pleasure to overtake our pursuit of God, leaving ourselves spiritually impoverished.[4] We struggle and strive for more while missing the irony that the vaster our acquisitions and the greater our worldly pleasures, the less contentment we gain, for the world will not satisfy those who pant after its offerings. Rather than giving them peace and contentment, it mockingly leaves them as those already dead.[5 However, the Lord will satisfy those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.[6] God alone can quench the fire in our souls and satisfy the desire in our hearts, and if we will look to Him as our provider, He, who created us, will give us an overflowing measure of soul-satisfying blessings, which will fill our thirsting hearts and gratify our longings.[7] He will call us to the Fount of Life, telling us, “Come, drink freely of the living waters, and eat the bread of life that you may live.”[8]
Desire what is worth possessing; seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness,[9] and you will find life-sustaining joy in the Lord, your Sun and Shield. Allow faith to guide you, and celebrate the blessed life God gives to those who put their trust in Him.[10]
[1] Genesis 1:1-31
[2] 1 Timothy 4:4
[3] Romans 8:6
[4] Proverbs 21:17
[5] 1 Timothy 5:6
[6] Matthew 5:6
[7] Psalm 107:9
[8] Isaiah 55:1-3
[9] Matthew 6:33
[10] Psalm 84:11-12
