Why “Joy Under the Sun”?
Ecclesiastes 2: 24 “There is nothing better for a person than he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil.”
Ecclesiastes 5:18 “Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot.”
Ecclesiastes 8: 15 “And I commend joy, for man has no good thing under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.”
I’m not exactly sure when I decided to start a blog. I knew I loved to write. I knew I always had a lot of thoughts running through my mind that I wanted to write about, but I always seemed to be scared to really do anything with it. I guess I may have decided when our Pastor started a series on Ecclesiastes. I had never really studied this book in depth, but found it to be so interesting. I have often asked questions like, “With all the sickness and sadness in this world what is the point of life?” How do you go on joyfully with life when someone close to you dies? I would find myself unmotivated and sad when I heard of unfortunate situations in people’s lives.
In Ecclesiastes, Solomon experiments by fulfilling everything he desires whether it was good or bad. And he comes to the same conclusion: all is vanity and unsatisfying. Though he finds that wisdom is better than folly as light is better than darkness, the end of a wise man and a foolish man is the same. They both die. But this is under the sun. So where does that leave us? Throughout this book you see a theme of enjoyment; “Enjoy life,” “Eat your bread with joy,” “Eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil under the sun.” God has given us all things to enjoy. Because of the hope we have in Him, we know that we can find joy while living in this broken world.
In thinking through the name of this blog, I didn’t want it to be just about one thing. I enjoy many things, and I love learning from others. I wanted it to include cooking, crafting, shopping, reading, traveling, food, relationships, etc. These are all wonderful gifts from God which He has given to us to enjoy.
So, I don’t pretend to be an expert in any of these things. Nor, do I think I have accomplished my goal of finding true joy in my Heavenly Father even through the difficult times. But this is what I am striving for. I have been blessed beyond words. We will one day find ultimate happiness when we are united with Christ, above the sun. But for now God has placed us here on this earth to fulfill our responsibilities. I hope you will go through this journey with me and find joy under the sun. For an updated post on my purpose of writing after taking a year off, click here: Rediscovering Joy
