Joy in the Present • Ecclesiastes 5

 

 

Yes, we should make the most of what God gives, 

both the bounty and the capacity to enjoy it, 

accepting what's given and delighting in the work. 

It's God's gift! 

God deals out joy in the present, the now. 

It's useless to brood over how long we might live. 

 

Ecclesiastes 5:18-20

Watch your step when you enter God's house. 

Enter to learn. That's far better than 

mindlessly offering a sacrifice. 

Doing more harm than good. 

Don't shoot off your mouth, or speak before you think. 

Don't be too quick to tell God what you 

think He wants to hear. God's in charge, not you — 

the less you speak, the better. 

 

Ecclesiastes 5:1-2

•

To walk this path
You have laid before me,
in joy, is possible today.

Taking delight
in the life I have been given,
finding purpose in the work
You've assigned my days
is a gift from Your hand.

I quiet my heart, silence my mouth
and enter Your presence.

Watching You,
Watering my heart and mind with
Your Word,
I learn how to live.

So deadly to my life, to my joy,
are the lying thoughts planted
by the one who would steal all
that I have, all that You have given.

Still before You
I shut out all the voices
training my heart to hear
You alone.

Quiet now,
I listen,
I receive,
I live.

•

When Your words came, I ate them; 

they were my joy and my heart's delight, 

for I bear Your name, O Lord God Almighty. 

 

Jeremiah 15:16

We use our powerful God-tools for 

smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers 

erected against the truth of God, 

fitting every loose thought and emotion 

and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. 

 

2 Corinthians 10:5

 

Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. 

 

Proverbs 4:23