If we believe the advertising that constantly bombards us, consumption is the key to happiness. This jacket will give you a joyous life of adventure! This alcohol will guarantee a great time! This foot cream will make your stress disappear! If we buy more, then we’ll be happy. We all know, on an intellectual level, that this is a lie. On a different level, though, the messaging works. We are quick to consume products that promise things they can’t possibly deliver.

Here, near the end of the Teacher’s meandering journey through life, he offers his final reflection on enjoying God’s good gifts. He advises us to “be happy while you are young” and to “let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth” (v. 9). We should, he tells us, follow our hearts and what our eyes see.

Read in isolation from the rest of the book, his comments sound a bit unbiblical, don’t they? However, he quickly follows this advice with an admonition we’ll explore over the final two days of our study: “for all these things God will bring you into judgment.” The Teacher is clear that God has given us gifts to enjoy—food, work, wine, and a spouse. And he’s clear that the ability to enjoy such things is itself a gift. And he is clear here—and especially so in chapter 12—that true joy, fulfillment, hope, happiness, life occur only within the context of a flourishing relationship with our Creator. Outside of fearing God, His good and perfect gifts twist into the grotesque and idolatrous: drunkenness, gluttony, workaholism, and sexual deviance.

The Teacher is no hedonist or modern advertiser who wants us to believe that consumption fulfills us. Rather, he is a faithful guide who calls us to enjoy God’s gifts within the boundaries God has established—for our good and God’s glory.

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