Daily Devotional | Enjoyment Is God’s Gift

Have you ever had an issue you just couldn’t stop talking about or ruminating on? Hopefully you had a patient friend who let you verbally process as much as you needed to. The Teacher requires of us similar patience because he returns again and again to the same topics throughout these twelve chapters. We’ve already talked about joy four times in this month’s study, and today we return to it again, but this time from a slightly different perspective.

In Ecclesiastes 6 the Teacher gives another example of something that is “Abel-like” (or “meaningless”) and “a grievous evil” (v. 2): The inability of someone to enjoy the gifts of God. In this scenario, the Teacher imagines a person who has received everything “their hearts desire,” and yet they remain dissatisfied because “God does not grant them the ability to enjoy them” (v. 2). The author goes on to say that even if such a person could live thousands of years, it would be better if he never lived at all because he was unable to enjoy the gifts God had given him.

Here the Teacher helps us to understand a second facet of God’s gifts more fully. We have learned that “every good gift” comes from God (James 1:17) and that humanity’s “portion” or “lot” in this life is the ability to enjoy these gifts (Eccl. 5:18). It is a two-part equation. First, God gives us gifts. And second, He gives us the ability to enjoy them. Both are important. We also see here that God is sovereign over everything, not just what He gives us but even how we interact with what He gives. God is the one who grants us the gift of enjoyment.

Go Deeper

What is your satisfaction level with life? Do you get good things, but quickly become bored and want something else? Ask God to help you fully appreciate and enjoy the gifts He has given you.

Pray with Us: Father of Light, thank You for all the good gifts You lavish on Your children! And thank You for giving us the ability to enjoy them. You open our eyes to beauty, truth, love, mercy, forgiveness, and all other perfect gifts from You.

BY Dr. Russell L. Meek

Russell Meek teaches Old Testament and Hebrew at Moody Theological Seminary. He writes a regular column on understanding and applying the Old Testament at Fathom Magazine, and his books include Ecclesiastes and the Search for Meaning in an Upside-Down World and the co-authored Book-by-Book Guide to Biblical Hebrew Vocabulary. Russ, his wife, and their three sons live in northern Idaho.