In Ecclesiastes 9, Solomon spends 12 verses talking about death and how we should live in light of knowing that we will die. What’s interesting is that right in the middle of this section he spends several verses talking about enjoying life. Here is one part of that: 7 Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart… 9 Enjoy life with the wife whom you love…”
Why does Solomon give these suggestions?
One reason is that he wants us to simply live with intentionality. He wants us to enjoy the gifts that God has blessed us with. I talked about that some in the last devotional.
But there is also a second reason. In his commentary on Ecclesiastes, David Gibson says this: “I find it interesting that verses 7–10 are full of wedding imagery: food, drink, white garments, oil, a husband and a wife. That is because the Bible’s picture of the best that life can offer us is simply a foretaste of a wedding banquet still to come, the beauty and grandeur and glory of which cannot be put into words.”
So it is very possible that Solomon has a dual purpose here. In addition to enjoying the simple things of life and living with intentionality, he wants us to do these enjoyable things because they will remind us what is to come in the future in heaven!
Heaven is going to be an amazing place. Don’t think of it like a boring church service or a place with floating babies (with wings). Heaven is going to be enjoyable! It’s going to be fun! It’s going to be a celebration! There are good things coming for those who are headed to heaven.
So when doing all these “enjoyable” activities, we are actually giving ourselves little reminders of what is to come.
Since heaven is going to be a wonderful place, the biggest pleasures you have now are really just a small picture of what is to come. The biggest enjoyments that you have now are just a foretaste of what is in store for you in heaven.
So don’t feel bad for enjoying life here on this earth. But as you enjoy life, remember that it is showing you – in a very small way – what heaven will one day be like.