Have Fun

Some of us may have fallen victim to believing that doing the work of God means that we do not have any fun in our lives. I want to argue that the contrary is true. God wants us to have fun while working hard for Him. I want to begin by explaining what is going on in this chapter of Ecclesiastes. The writer starts off by sounding off some of the atrocities and unfair things he’s witnessed in his life. He talks about how the wicked and evil doers of the world live as if their crimes will never be punished; how horrible people appear to be the most righteous; how the poor and afflicted are treated like criminals; how good people live without reward in turmoil. It is a whole chapter dedicated to common problems plaguing what should be an egalitarian and fair society. The author calls it, meaningless– all of it is meaningless. So he recommends the following:

So I recommend having fun, because there is nothing better for people in this world than to eat, drink, and enjoy life. That way they will experience some happiness along with all the hard work God gives them under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 8:15 NLT)

Let me clear one thing up, the writer is not talking about being lazy by having fun doing nothing. The writer is not talking about having to resort to deviant behaviors to “have fun” either. He is saying when doing the work of God, which is exactly what you should be doing every single day of your life– earning a living according to your passions, talents, and skills for the glory of God– you should also enjoy the fruit of that labor, the benefits you receive from working. Yes, that means date night is a good thing with your spouse. Yes, it also means going on vacation is a good thing with your family. Yes, it means enjoying a trenta sized ice coffee at Starbucks across the street after church is a good thing, too. But you understand where the writer is going with this, don’t you? We exist to work for the glory of God, moreover, we exist to try to witness as much as we can about the glories God is revealing to us. In living this way, God created us to enjoy that glory. You need to take advantage of it, starting today.