Day 192. Ecclesiastes 5-8

The writer of the Book of Ecclesiastes returns again and again to the same theme—"This is what I have seen to be good," he says. "It is fitting to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of the life God gives us; for this is our lot" (5:18).
There are many relative "goods" mentioned by the philosopher king of Ecclesiastes. Keeping the law is good (5:1)—it is better than the sacrifices of fools. Discretion in speech is good (5:6)—it keeps you out of trouble. The sound sleep of laborers is good (5:12)—indigestion is the lot of the rich. But the highest good we can expect in this life—which is the only life the philosopher expects to live--is to get pleasure from the gifts that God has given us. Two things are worthwhile--earthly blessings together the capacity to enjoy them, and a meaningful job we like to do. Everything else is "vanity."
But philosopher's idea of enjoyment is not mindless hedonism. It is the considered, grateful response of one who knows there is nothing greater than enjoyment to be expected from life. Enjoying life is the fullest praise of the One who gives it. Everything besides enjoyment is bound to futility. Wisdom, reputation, wealth—nothing lasts. Enjoyment does not last either, but God has given it to those whom he blesses; it is their "lot."
Not everyone receives the opportunity to enjoy life to the fullest—that is part of the "vanity" the philosopher sees all around him. Some who should receive it don't--for reasons God only knows. And no one, no matter how wise or how righteous, gets enjoyment unmixed with sorrow. Therefore, "in the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider," the philosopher says—"God has made the one as well as the other, so that mortals may not find out anything that will come after them" (7:14). Life is a mystery. We will not know what the future will hold, for ourselves and those who come after us.
So don't ask questions for which there is no answer. When enjoyment is offered, accept it humbly, simply, and thankfully as the pure gift of grace that it is. It fills up our lives so that we do not have time to brood on that which we cannot understand, let alone change (5:20).
There is plenty to brood about, heaven knows. Injustice abounds, as the philosopher-king is quick to point out. The wicked are praised and buried with honor, while the righteous "are treated according to the conduct of the wicked" (8:14). But faced with all that the voice of Ecclesiastes commends "enjoyment" to the wise above all else, because enjoyment alone "will go with them in their toil and through the days of life that God gives them under the sun" (8:15). Nothing at all lasts—and only simple enjoyment of the good things matters.