Solomon goes on to describe life in this world.  And which of us can’t whole-heartedly agree with the wise man’s conclusions?  Look at our Ecclesiastes reading for today from chapters one and two, and look at the second part of verse 13.  Life in this world “is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with.”  We work hard, we sweat under the blazing sun to earn a buck and feed ourselves and our family, and we pay our taxes and pay our bills and the money’s gone, and the cycle starts all over again tomorrow!  It feels like you’re not getting anywhere in your life, and you know that soon you must die and leave everything you worked for to someone else.  King Solomon continues in verses 22-23: “What has a man from all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun?  For all his days are full of sorrow, and his work is a vexation [a bother, an annoyance, an irritation].  Even in the night his heart does not rest.  This also is vanity.” 

The wise teacher paints a pretty bleak picture of life in this world.  And all of us who have experienced the frustrations of life in this world can only nod our heads in agreement.  “Yep, life is just a pain, and then you die.”

If we only stopped there, if I said an “Amen” to my sermon right now, we’d all go away quite depressed.  Yes, so much of life in this world is meaningless and full of sorrow and frustration for us.  But that’s not the end of the story!  That’s only the introduction to what the wise man of God is trying to teach us.

He goes on to say that there’s a way to find not only enjoyment, but also meaning and fulfillment in this life.  It begins on the very basic, earthly level of simply eating, drinking, and finding enjoyment in the things of this world that God has provided.

Let’s face it.  You’ve got to do the work cut out for you.  There’s no way around it.  It’s how you provide for yourself and others in your care.  It’s how you carve out some sense of who you are and what your life is about in this world.  You may not always like it, and you’ll probably wish you were somewhere else doing something else most of the time.  Most students prefer being out of school than in school.  Most workers are glad at the end of a hard day to be finished with the work.  Most parents or grandparents, although they love their kids, are glad for some peace and quiet at the end of the day.   And no matter what job or project you’re working on, things are almost certainly not going to work out perfectly like you planned them.  Every task has it’s own way of throwing us an unexpected curve or problem to be solved.  Life is always full of frustrations.  There’s no away around the frustration.  But there IS a way THROUGH it, and that is by finding the blessing of God in it all.

The question is, what has God given you today?  He’s given you your share of challenges, yes, but hasn’t He also given you wonderful gifts to enjoy?  You had breakfast this morning, or if you’re fasting, you’re probably looking forward to eating a good noon meal.  If you’re listening to me right now, then God has given you the gifts of health and strength enough to get up out of bed and to come to church this morning.  Maybe He’s given you the gift of a vehicle to get to church.  Perhaps you have family members with you today, whose love and support are something to give thanks to God for.  You have clothing and shelter and all the basic needs of life.  And if you look around, there are countless other blessings God has given to you to enjoy.

Now, this isn’t just a “count your blessings” kind of sermon, or a “look at the bright side of life” sermon.  Life in this world teaches us that from an earthly point of view, everything is indeed meaningless.  The very best we can do, looking with earthly eyes, is to try to squeeze at least a little enjoyment out of the toilsome days God has given us.  But what the Lord is teaching us is to look with heavenly eyesight.  Verses 25 and 26 of Ecclesiastes 2:  “For apart from God, who can eat or who can have enjoyment?  For to the one who pleases Him, God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner He has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to the one who pleases God.” 

So what we learn here is that it’s not just what you do in life, but it’s what you do it for, and WHO you’re doing it for, that gives true meaning to your life. 

If you work hard all day and endure all the frustration to earn a buck or two to feed yourself and your family, then when you sit down to dinner, enjoy it!  Enjoy the food, enjoy the company of others.  Pour yourself a beer (if you’re of age) or whatever your favorite beverage.  Have a bowl of ice cream and savor the flavor.  Yes, you still have to be careful and not abuse these good gifts from God or harm your body by over-using them.  But when you get a break from your hard work, enjoy it!  Life is not only about work and toil, but it’s about giving thanks to God that we can enjoy time with family and friends, enjoying all of God’s earthly gifts.

But Jesus has a warning for us, too, in our Luke reading for today from chapter 12.  The rich man in Jesus’ parable says, “I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, and be merry.”  But God recognized that this man had the wrong attitude about God’s gifts.  He was only storing them up for himself, and not using them to the glory of God or for the good of his neighbor.  And Jesus sums up in verse 21 saying, “So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” 

So that’s an important thing to keep in mind always.  In everything you do in this life, in all the treasure that you’re storing up or the good things that you have in your life, what are they for?  What are you doing it for?  Who are you doing it for?  If the answer is for yourself, then all your hard work and toil, all the things you gain will be meaningless, for nothing.  But if you work through all your toil and suffering in life, and gain things to support yourself and others with the plan to use it all to the glory of God, seeing God’s blessing in it all, then there’s nothing wrong, and in fact, there’s nothing more blessed, as King Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 2:24, than to eat, drink, and be merry, finding joy in the things of this life that God has given.  When you recognize them as good gifts from God, all the things in this life—the hard times as well as the enjoyable times, the frustrating things as well as the pleasant things—all these you come to recognize as God’s gifts given for your good.  They all become reasons to rejoice in the Lord.  They all become opportunities to witness to all that God has done for you.  They all become opportunities to share God’s love and blessings with others.

So eat, drink, and be merry, if indeed you’re doing so to the glory of God, sharing His love with others.  Then you’ll be able to recognize all the toil, trouble, and meaninglessness of life in this world as a blessing from God, looking forward to our true home, our true goal in this life—going home to live with our Lord forever in the true joy of heaven.