“It’s simply best to eat and drink, and like the work one’s got; for days are few that God’s bestowed – indeed, this is one’s lot.  When God gives wealth and goods and work, and joy that will not dim; they come to ease one’s lot in life – as pleasures straight from Him.”  (Ecclesiastes 5:18-19)

This is the fifth post on Ecclesiastes, which I am translating into common meter.  The following contains my rendering of Ecclesiastes 5, preceded by a brief reflection.

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Money matters.  It matters both in the warp and woof of commerce and trade, as well as our spiritual growth and maturity.  The Bible has much to say about the acquisition and use of money.  From the Old Testament prophets instructing on honesty in transactions and almsgiving; to Jesus teaching about the perils of wealth for the kingdom of God; to Paul cautioning about excessive love of money.  There are more than 2000 verses on money, wealth, and possessions in the Bible, and money is the most talked about topic of Jesus.  For the most part, those who are rich don’t fare too well.  Indeed, Jesus said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!  For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” (Luke 18:24-25)

The concern about riches in the Bible is not so much about money per se, but about our relationship with money – how we acquire it, think about it, and use it.  The Apostle Paul sums it up well.
     “Godliness with contentment is great gain.  For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.  But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.  Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.  For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.  Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” (1 Timothy 6:6-10)

In Ecclesiastes 5:10-20, the Teacher is generally in agreement with Paul, but with a surprising twist at the end.  The first five of these verses describe some downsides of wealth:  love of money is insatiable (v 10); others will be lining up for a share (v 11); there will be sleepless nights worrying about protecting it (v 12); and it can easily be lost (vv 13-14).  The next three verses are darker but along the same lines, insofar as you can’t take money with you when you die (vv 15-16), and that it won’t prevent suffering in this life (v 17).  I don’t think most of us pay much heed to these concerns because they can feel like remote problems at best.  Still, they line up well with the rest of Scripture.  Not so, the final three verses.

For in Ecclesiastes 5:18-20, the Teacher speaks about indulging in what we have.  “It’s simply best to eat and drink, and like the work one’s got; for days are few that God’s bestowed – indeed, this is one’s lot.” (Ecclesiastes 5:18)  In the NET version, “I have seen personally what is the only beneficial and appropriate course of action for people: to eat and drink, and find enjoyment in all their hard work on earth during the few days of their life that God has given them, for this is their reward.”  In other words the Teacher is saying, “eat, drink, and be merry!”

This is not a one-off statement either, but a theme that the Teacher repeats throughout Ecclesiastes.
     “There is nothing better for people than to eat and drink, and to find enjoyment in their work.  I also perceived that this ability to find enjoyment comes from God.”  (Ecclesiasts 2:24)
     “I have concluded that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to enjoy themselves as long as they live, and also that everyone should eat and drink, and find enjoyment in all his toil, for these things are a gift from God.”  (Ecclesiastes 3:12-13)
     “So I recommend the enjoyment of life, for there is nothing better on earth for a person to do except to eat, drink, and enjoy life.  So joy will accompany him in his toil during the days of his life that God gives him on earth.”  (Ecclesiastes 8:15)

So how do we make sense of the Teacher’s conclusion in these three verses that we are to ‘live it up,’ so to speak?  Because life is short, do we therefore just make the best of our resources by eating, drinking, and merriment?  Some would agree, saying that this is just a matter of enjoying the fruit of one’s labor – making the most of what one’s got.  Undoubtedly, those of us at a certain stage of life with a level of financial security enjoy such things as good food and physical comforts.  But is it really true as the Teacher says that, “there is nothing better for a person to do” than this?

There are some commentators who look at these verses and say that the Teacher is merely expressing the consequence of life without God.  They would say that if one lives life apart from God, then death is the ultimate end, therefore why not just eat, drink, and be merry?  After all, the Apostle Paul said something very similar in regard to the significance of the resurrection and life after death.
     “If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.’”  (1 Corinthians 15:32b)
But it remains to be explained how this type of self-indulgence advocated by the Teacher is the consequence of life without God, when he is clear that this in fact comes from God.

The Teacher emphasizes that all we have – eating, drinking, working, and even our ability to enjoy these things are gifts from God.  For example, “When God gives wealth and goods and work, and joy that will not dim; they come to ease one’s lot in life – as pleasures straight from Him.”  (Ecclesiastes 5:19)  To believe that all we have is a gift from God goes back to the order of things in creation inasmuch as all things belong to God.  “The Lord owns the earth and all it contains, the world and all who live in it.”  (Psalm 24:1)  That all we have is a gift is a key to everything we do with our resources.  For it is in our perception that all we have – wealth, joy, and life itself – is a gift from God, that prompts us to gratitude.  Ronald Rolheiser makes this point.
     “The first exercise we must do to restore our contemplative faculty to its full powers is to work at receiving everything – life, health, the people around us, love, friendship, food, drink, sexuality, beauty – as gift.  Becoming a more grateful person is the first and the most important step in overcoming the practical atheism that besets our everyday lives.  To the extent that we take life for granted we will never see the Giver behind the gift.  But once we stop taking life for granted we will begin to feel it as a gift from God.”  (The Shattered Lantern, 165)

When we see our life, wealth, and joy as gifts from God, it naturally stirs up feelings of gratitude.  When we begin to understand that all we have comes from God, then feelings of greed, envy, and possessiveness loosen their grip on our hearts, and we start thinking more about how we can use these resources to help others.  I have written previously about the importance of gratitude for a life of faith.  Receiving all we have in our lives – our possessions, our relationships, our life itself – as gifts and blessings from God undergirds a life of faith.  To be increasingly aware of how much we have, and to turn our gaze from our poverty to our abundance, is foundational to the Christian spiritual life.

Regardless of our resources, life is always more than “eat, drink, and be merry.”  As Jesus tells us in the parable of the Rich Fool, true riches are not measured in this way.
      “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.  And Jesus told them this parable: ‘The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest.  He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’  “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain.  And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.’  But God said to him, ‘You fool!  This very night your life will be demanded from you.  Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’  ‘This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.’”  (Luke 12:15-21)

Not that we shouldn’t enjoy the fruits of our labor, we should.  But we need to remember that what the Teacher tells us about utilizing our resources for ourselves is not the full counsel of God on the matter.  Self-indulgence must never have the final word.  The pleasure of eating, drinking, and merriment is not the end game of our spiritual journey.  The Lord calls us deeper.  If we have wealth, we share it with those in need.  If we have health, we comfort those who are sick.  If we have time on our hands, we help those who are stressed.  The balance many of us need in our lives is not in keeping more for ourselves, but in giving more to others.

S

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1 Proceed with care when in God’s house,
draw near and listen there;
Don’t make the sacrifice of fools,
who don’t know where they err.

2 Don’t make rash promises to God,
before you think it through;
For God’s in heaven, you’re on earth,
so let your words be few.

3 Like dreams become more numerous,
whenever cares don’t cease;
As well, a foolish vow occurs,
whenever words increase.

4 Fulfill a promise made to God,
make haste to do it now;
For he does not delight in fools –
so pay up on your vow.

5 Far better not to make a vow,
or let your oath be heard;
Than fail to fill what you have pledged –
reneging on your word.

6 Don’t let your mouth lead you to sin,
and break your promised plans.
Why risk God’s wrath so he destroys,
the workings of your hands?

7 Though plenty words are spoken out,
and many dreams appear;
Remember these are meaningless –
it’s God that you must fear.

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8 Don’t be surprised when officers,
oppress the weak and poor;
For higher-ups protect their own,
while justice they ignore.

9 But everyone exploits the land,
and all the good earth yields;
The king himself depends upon,
the harvest of the fields.

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10 Those loving wealth won’t have enough,
they’re never satisfied;
Its folly to believe that all,
their wants will be supplied.

11 As goods increase, so also those,
who hope to get a share.
Yet how do owners benefit,
except to look and stare?

12 The sleep of laborers is sweet,
despite what they have not;
But not the rich, who cannot rest,
from worrying a lot.

13 There’s evil I have looked upon,
that’s reason for alarm;
For too much wealth that’s stored away,
will bring its owner harm.

14 For wealth will vanish through bad luck,
or lack of commonsense;
And children will have nothing left,
for their inheritance.

15 As all come naked to this life,
with nothing to their name;
They’ll carry nothing from their work –
departing as they came.

16 It’s tragic dying like one’s born –
departing with no gain;
For all one’s work and laboring,
is futile and in vain.

17 For people’s days are full of grief –
in darkness do they eat;
Afflicted, angry, and much vexed,
their sorrow is complete.

18  It’s simply best to eat and drink,
and like the work one’s got;
For days are few that God’s bestowed –
indeed, this is one’s lot.

19 When God gives wealth and goods and work,
and joy that will not dim;
They come to ease one’s lot in life –
as pleasures straight from Him.

20 The rich will seldom brood upon,
the way they’ve spent their years;
Because the Lord has filled their hearts,
with gladness and good cheer.