CELEBRATING LIFE

"Behold that which I have seen:

it is good and comely for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him: for it is his portion." ~ Ecclesiastes 5:18

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." ~ James 1:17

I've been reading in Ecclesiastes lately ... a book of the Bible which I have always struggled with because of the pessimism it seems to portray. My spiritual eyes have been opened to the light of who God is and I have a growing relationship with Him, so I read it through that viewpoint, which makes the statements about everything being "meaningless" somewhat confusing. However, the author does make some very profound and true statements about God.

Jesus said in John 10:10 that He came in order that whoever came to Him "might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."

So when I read Ecclesiastes 5:18 and meditated on it, I realized it was a jewel indeed. Every day that we have IS a gift from God, and as followers of Christ we can live joyfully in the time that God has given us, with what He has given us to do because we know that God is sovereign, even though we can't understand all the "whys" of this life.

That is a great motivation for celebrating and living "joy"-fully today: knowing that this is a day given to me by God and that by living every moment of it in an attitude of thankfulness and praise I am giving Him honor and acknowledging that He is God over my life.