Ecclesiastes 11: 9 says, “You who are young, be happy while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.” Some people feel that God is a strict Father that does not want His children to enjoy life, but to suffer. This is not true, on the contrary all forms of enjoyment come from God, He created them. However He places rules so that it is not abused because no matter how good something is, once it is misused or abused it becomes bad. Someone once told me that God does not want people to have sex, I really laughed. God created sex, but He said sex outside marriage such as fornication and adultery is what He does not want. The reasons are obvious, it causes betrayal, unwanted pregnancies, disease and other pains. From the beginning, God made everything perfect for man in the garden of Eden. Adam and Eve had all they needed, plenty of food and water, control over all the animals, birds and fish. A good job, good weather and a good life. So the original plan of God was to enjoy all things. So what actually brought suffering and pain was disobedience and sin. It was when Adam and Eve disobeyed that things started getting difficult for them. Likewise when we disobey God today, it leads to complications and problems in our lives.
God does not want people to suffer, rather God allows suffering if that will teach us and make us better. The bible says in Hebrews 12:6, “For the LORD disciplines those He loves, and He punishes each one He accepts as his child.” So most times the purpose of suffering is to make us better. Once we learn the lesson the suffering stops. Imagine you have a child and you do not discipline him or her, that is not love that is hatred.This is because the child will go astray and will not realize it until he or she gets hurt and regrets.
So enjoy your life and be happy, just make sure you do not sin while enjoying yourself, because whatever we do in the open or secret some day we shall give account of it to God. Attend events, play games, watch things that entertain you, enjoy good cooking but in everything do it with the fear of God. To enjoy life is even a gift from God. When a laborer takes a cold bottle of coke on a sunny day after work, he enjoys it. Not everyone can enjoy a drink, some can afford to buy a whole truck of coke yet they can not drink one bottle because they have health issues.
Life is not perfect for anyone, everyone alive has a problem. A poor man has too little food which is called starvation, a rich man has too much food which is called obesity, both are problems. A poor man does not have enough money it is called worry, a rich man has too much money and is afraid of losing it, it is also called worry. So the best thing is to be happy and make the most of it because it is not perfect for anyone. And one thing that is certain we will all die someday regardless of our social status.
So enjoy your life, take time to rest and go on vacations. God is pleased that you enjoy yourself, but while doing so be careful not to disobey His commandments.
