Scripture
Ecclesiastes 9:7-9
7 Go! Eat your bread with gladness and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already accepted your deeds. 8 Let your clothes always be white, and do not spare oil on your head. 9 Live joyously with the wife whom you love all the days of your fleeting life that He has given you under the sun during all your fleeting days—for this is your portion in life and in your toil that you labor under the sun. (NRSV))
Devotion
I am a firm believer that the world needs more joy. After all, we have one life to live and God placed us within a beautiful creation full of blessings and opportunities. What's more, God gives each of us personalities that find delight in different things. Given such abundance of options out there and such human diversity, how folks help but seek out moments that us joy?
Even as I hypothetically believe that we should spend our days in joy, I have a hard time following my own advice. There is just so much to do, so many sorrows in the world, and so many injustices that still need addressed each and every day that I can feel guilty about taking time out to experience some joy here and now. Instead, I convince myself that the joy we will all experience together late will more than make up for the sacrifices I make today...and tomorrow...and the day after that. I forget that life is fleeting. That certain opportunities for joy are rare...and that missing or delaying even the more common ones means that I am not experiencing the full scope of my divinely-created portion in life.
Yes, life includes a great deal of striving and toil, but as Ecclesiastes points out, it also includes simple pleasures, opportunities to experience God's abundance, and loving relationship to nurture. All of these blessings have a place in our lives. All oft them can bring us joy. And there are consequences for consistently refusing to experience the joys that God has provided as our daily portion in life. Without a regular infusion of joy, we begin to feel tired, irritable, frustrated, and hopeless. Our productivity suffers. Our relationships become strained. We have trouble answering Christ's call to labor on behalf of God's joyful Kin-dom.
If you are someone who finds a certain pleasure spending all your time laboring on heavy or difficult things--if you re someone who says you will take time for yourself when God adds more hours to a day or when you retire--then it is important to intentionally work in opportunities for joy Joy comes in all shapes and sizes, and it doesn't have to be "big" in order to refresh our souls. Our joy can come in small yet frequent sips like occasionally like treating ourselves to a food or beverage that makes us happy (I personally get a kick of anything that has rainbow sprinkles). It can be taking to time to dance or exercise. To create something. To go to a game or a museum or even just on a drive. To read something you enjoy or listen a podcast you've wanted to check out. If you are an extrovert, you may find joy in getting together with friends. If you are an introvert, you may delight in taking a break from the rest of the world. Or listen to a podcast. If you are always busy, you may even find joy in taking time to do absolutely nothing.
However you find your joy, it is a gift from God. And as part of our portion in life, it is just as important as our labor and toil on behalf of God's kingdom. So let us take time to be merry. Let us find ways to experience God's abundance. Let us find happiness with our loved ones. And if we find ourselves tempted to keep putting happiness aside for a later date, let us remember God accepts our joy as a form of praise for the blessings we have been given. And we should all make a joyful noise for our fleeting days amidst God's amazing Creation.
Prayer
God of all Goodness, help me take time to experience my portion of the joy that you have poured into Creation. Though my time on Earth is fleeting, may all my toils and all my happiness be spent in praise of you. Amen.
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