On Sunday 3rd Jan, Ecclesiastes 3:12-13 became our New Year message: Live “today” (or “the moment”) as a gift of God!
This is surely a word of godly wisdom for those who feel overwhelmed at the beginning of a new year.
But what does it mean to live “today” as a gift of God (v12-13)?
1. Enjoy the simple pleasures, when they come.
It is not true that the Lord wants us to grin and bear it until heaven: it is just that some of us have forgotten how to enjoy the simple things in life as a gift from God (NB ‘eat and drink’ in v13). e.g. reading a good book; enjoying a good night’s sleep; sharing a drink with friends.
They don’t give ultimate meaning and if we try to load any of these things up with ultimate meaning they will fail us. Ultimate meaning can only be found in God himself! But they are a valuable and significant part of life to be enjoyed as a gift of God.
Will we resolve to enjoy these as we are meant to in 2016 or will we pursue an unhealthy and unspiritual asceticism?
2. Find satisfaction in a job well done.
‘He also has set eternity in the human heart’ (v11). ie we have a God-given sense of the big picture. Our moments are painted on the canvas of time and space in its entirety.
We want to ask how this moment fits into the whole and so we can find it difficult to have a proper focus on the present. But the big picture is God’s business not ours! We are to focus on doing today well. We are to leave the larger significance (or otherwise!) of “now” to God.
Will we pursue a sense of satisfaction of a job well done today regardless of what significance it might have/ not have in 5/10 years time!?
So, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Just live “today” as a gift from God. After all, “today” has enough challenges and opportunities of its own!