God Wants You To Enjoy Your Life

Ecclesiastes 2:24-26, “There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God. For who can eat, or who else can hasten hereunto, more than I? For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.”

The inspired King James Bible teaches that God wants the labouring man to enjoy the sweet fruits of his labors. So many people make the dire mistake of pursuing life, rather than to enjoy living. God gave Solomon a great life to live, but Solomon always wanted more. Ten wives wasn't enough, he wanted eleven, and then twelve, and ultimately ended up with 700 wives and 300 concubines. But even with all that Solomon possessed, he was still miserable and hated his life. ...

Ecclesiastes 2:15-17, “Then said I in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me; and why was I then more wise?  Then I said in my heart, that this also is vanity. For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now is in the days to come shall all be forgotten.  And how dieth the wise man?  as the fool. Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.”

Solomon had it all, yet he hated his life. He made the mistake of failing to accept the life which God had blessed him with. I have suffered much in my life. I was severely rear-ended by a full-sized school bus in 1992,  which misaligned my neck permanently. By 2004 that misalignment caused Cervical Degenerative Disk Disease, which led to two major neck surgeries in 2009 and 2010. The second surgery made me much worse, leaving both of my arms feeling inflated with air all the time. The whole right side of my body feels half asleep all the time. I feel burning in my nerves throughout my upper body. These afflictions are mere words to you dear reader, but they are a miserable reality to me--continually adversely affecting my emotions and how I feel. consequently, I live alone and try to enjoy the life that God has given me.

By the end of Solomon's miserable life, he finally learned to enjoy living, instead of always trying to make a better life. There are tens of millions of people who work so very hard, stashing away all the money that they can for an early retirement, just to watch it all get eaten up by a legal matter, health issues or some other devourer. I have seen people work hard for 30 years, then retire and die within just a couple years of retirement. James Mack comes to mind. He was a black man that I worked with in Chicago. He used to talk about how excited he was to someday retire. He told me that he was ready to retire in 5 years, then 4, then 3, 2, and 1, boom, he retired, and then died two years later. All for what?

There are billions of people in this world who refuse to enjoy living. They are so preoccupied with saving up for the future, and worked toward the future (e.g., buying a house, buying a boat, saving for marriage, et cetera), that they haven't learned to enjoy living now. 

I take pictures sometimes, to share with my web visitors. I try to enjoy myself when I go anywhere. I pay attention to the little things. When the snowstorm came on January 21, 2025 to Pensacola, Florida, I took this picture of a red cardinal in my back yard to share with others on social media...

I built a snowman the morning after the snowstorm (on January 22, 2025), and I had so much fun. I used charcoal briquettes for the eyes, nose and mouth. I put a 'JOHN 3:16' hat on my snowman, and I dug out an old Christmas ornament from my den...

I love severe weather and I always have. I love tornadoes! I love snowstorms! I took this photo from my front porch during the heavy snowfall on January 21, 2025 (in Pensacola, can you believe it?). It went down to 18 degrees Fahrenheit that night and I loved it...

There is nothing wrong with enjoying life, just so long as you always honor and glorify God in all that you do. 1st Corinthians 6:20, “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.”

One of my favorite sermons by Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001) is titled: “Learn To Enjoy Where You Are While On Your Way To Where You're Going.” Dr. Hyles counseled with thousands of people each year, who shared their burdens, dreams and unhappiness with him. As a pastor, Brother Hyles learned that so oftentimes people choose to be miserable while waiting for better times to come along, when they ought to make the best of their present situation.

God wants us to enjoy our life.