Ecclesiastes 9:7-10

"7 Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favors what you do. 8 Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. 9 Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun— all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom."

To me, this passage has many messages, but one also very simple one: live life. Enjoy the simple things. Enjoy the complex things. Enjoy the blessings that are physically present. Have a glass of wine, and drink it joyfully (don't mind if I do), chew your food with a smile on your face (and your mouth hopefully closed). No we don't have to be clothed literally in white, or put oil on our heads, particularly car oil, you might be viewed a bit oddly if you do that.

I think what it is saying there though, is that we should do our daily tasks, we should enjoy life, but we should do so with a pure heart and a pure lifestyle, hence the always being clothed in white. Always remaining spiritually clean, and keeping an upward reminder on our heads and minds.

We are also told to enjoy life with our wives, or for you wives, your husbands. For someone like me with no wife or girl friend or significant other to speak of, I think it means to enjoy our lives with our family and friends.

Put simply, this is life, there is not more to this life. We are living this life to prepare ourselves for our eternal life hopefully with God. Thankfully that is so, I cannot imagine my depression if I knew that this life was all there was and nothing more. In this life though, we are born, we grow, we work, we meet people, we grow old, and we die. That is life. How many people can you name from 100 years ago? How many people can you name from 500 years ago? How about 1,000? How about 3,000? Even our most significant actions in this world are but a speck on the world at large.

If this is all life is then, we are told to take joy in it. The daily mundane tasks we do, and the people we see every day that we maybe take for granted for just being there on a consistent basis. Take joy and gladness in this. And my favorite verse from this, "whatever your hands find to do, do it with all your might." We only have a little while on this earth, when we are dead it is too late to do anything here, so whatever it is that is your calling, the millions of things that could possibly be, do it with all your might. Don't be afraid to try, to "fail."

Find what you enjoy, find what you are good at, and do it with all your might. Put a smile on your face, and praise God for each day, because one day, there will be no more days left for you.