Week 22 Ecclesiastes
They’re underlined in red in my reading bible. Six passages in Ecclesiastes that I’ve noted in some previous reading-year. They all talk about the same thing and in my mind I title them: How to Live Your Life (an alternate title: Enjoy Life While You Can.)
In these six passages a couple of similar ideas come up again-and-again. I know that “doing good” is only mentioned once – it’s an exception. But others show up multiple times:
• Eat & drink (five times)
• Work (seven times)
• Be satisfied or glad with what I’ve got – there’s enjoyment & satisfaction in eating/drinking & working & marriage (fourteen times)
One other recurring idea doesn’t tell me how to live my life. It’s a reminder that the things I’ve got are gifts from the hand of God (six times).
Anyway I wanted to bring the key ideas together in one short paraphrase:
Eat and drink with a glad & joyful heart.
It’s necessary to work. And even though it can be arduous & grueling it’s a gift from God – so I can be happy in my work too.
And to sum it up: the basic things in life are given to me from the Lord. So I can enjoy them.
In my bible the six passages total about 360 words. But my streamlined version reduces things to about 60. I admit that my rendition is pretty routine and unexciting. But it covers the fundamentals of living life.
Note: the six passages are Ecclesiastes 2:24-25 3:12-13 3:22 5:18-20 8:15 9:7-9