ECCLESIASTES 9:7\u201318<\/b><\/p>\n
Go, eat your bread with joy<\/i><\/p>\n
(Eccl. 9:7)<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Charles Bridges observed that \u201cit is indeed too rare to find a real Christian\u2014much more rare to find a joyful one.\u201d If Bridges is correct, many Christians are guilty of neglecting the advice of the Preacher, who said, \u201cGo, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favors what you do \u2026 Enjoy life\u201d (niv). This is not a prescription for hedonism\u2014maximum pleasure at all cost. The Preacher is exhorting us to enjoy the mercies of God in this life. Bridges rightly comments that a Christian who is supported by divine strength, favor, and consolation has no reason to complain and brood. God has given us many blessings to enjoy, and to remain cast down by depression and melancholy is an affront to His goodness.<\/p>\n
\u201c[The Preacher\u2019s] directions are for a joyous religion,\u201d Bridges writes. \u201cWe must not indeed forget the \u2018time to mourn\u2019 (v. 3:4) nor the moderation needed in our times of rejoicing (1 Cor. 7:30), nor the profit of seasons of humiliation and restraint (Dan. 10:2, 3). Yet we should remember our obligation to shine\u2014to exhibit our white garments of praise.\u201d Whether we are in the deepest sorrow or the height of bliss, the ground of our rejoicing remains the same: Jesus Christ, our God and our Savior. If we try to derive joy from ourselves or the world, it will quickly disappear. The source of our joy is in God Himself, who never changes and who in His grace has showered upon us not only temporal blessings, but the redemption of our souls.<\/p>\n
We often become depressed and downcast because we have taken our eyes off the Lord, off His mercies and promises. The only remedy to our melancholy then is, not to try to find solace in earthly things, but to think on the glorious person of Christ, who gives to His afflicted ones \u201cbeauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness\u201d (Isa. 61:3). Do you really believe the Gospel to be \u201cglad tidings of great joy\u201d? If so, do not belie this professed belief by hanging your head like a drooping reed (Isa. 58:5). Go into your Father\u2019s presence, not with a wrinkled brow, but with affectionate, dutiful, unreserved, delighting confidence. In everything, \u201cRejoice in the Lord always!\u201d<\/p>\n
CORAM DEO<\/b><\/p>\n
Proverbs 23\u201324<\/p>\n
2 Corinthians 6<\/p>\n
Read Nehemiah 8:9\u201312. This passage is about Ezra\u2019s recovery of God\u2019s Word. How did the leaders of Israel exhort people to respond to the reading of God\u2019s Law? Why did they celebrate? Does the Word of God fill you with joy? Why should the reading of the Bible give you cause to rejoice even in the midst of great difficulty?<\/p>\n
For further study: Ps. 16 \u2022 John 15:1\u201317; 17:6\u201320 \u2022 Heb. 12:1\u20133<\/i><\/p>\n
wednesday<\/p>\n
september<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ECCLESIASTES 9:7\u201318 Go, eat your bread with joy (Eccl. 9:7). Charles Bridges observed that \u201cit is indeed too rare to find a real Christian\u2014much more rare to find a joyful one.\u201d If Bridges is correct, many Christians are guilty of neglecting the advice of the Preacher, who said, \u201cGo, eat your food with gladness, and … Continue reading “ENJOY LIFE!”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12588\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}