Enjoying life

https://odb.org/2024/05/14/savoring-the-moment

When I was a young believer, I was taught to serve God and not enjoy life. This teaching came across as though both are mutually exclusive concepts, like war and peace can not exist at the same time. But as I grew older, I realised that we could actually find a balance in most things. For example, nowadays, people speak of work-life balance. Thus, even in pursuing our career goals, we can find time to serve God and pursue our other interests in life.

Time is, of course, a limited commodity. Everyone only has 24 hours to a day. There is just so much we can do within the hours, and we still need to rest and sleep for our bodies to recuperate and recharge. Therefore, in our many pursuits, we need to let go of some to focus on others. For example, if we are a national badminton player or a full-time professional athlete, certain ordinary things like enjoying a mug of beer and eating junk or unhealthy food would have to wait until we retire from competitive sports as we need to continuously train and maintain ourselves in the most optimum physical condition. Similarly, if we are saving up to buy a house or to pay off our mortgage, we may need to postpone holidays abroad or drive an older car. I recalled that when our boys first arrived, we stopped going to the movies. We only restarted going to the movies when they were old enough to go with us, and it became a really enjoyable weekend family outing with popcorns, soft drinks, and other snacks!

In Ecclesiastes 8:15, King Solomon advocates that life is to be enjoyed. He wrote, “I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat, drink, and be glad.” He had written that life is vanity or meaningless. Nevertheless, Solomon advocated that life becomes meaningful when lived for God. We don’t just cease to exist after we perish as there is life after death. The question is whether we will live a better or worse life after.

The message this morning is that we must always find a balance in all things. It can be found. The enjoyment of life may be pursued without guilt as the good things in life itself are created by God. We should eat, drink and be glad! It’s just that as believers, we also need to serve God and fulfil our calling in Christ and God’s plans and purposes for our lives. Therefore, our aim in life can not be to enjoy life only. There must be a balance in the same way we pursue work-life balance.