“Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works. Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment. Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that [is] thy portion in [this] life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun.” (Ec 9:7-9 AV)
It really is ok to be happy! The world tries to make us as miserable as it can. The media can do nothing but report bad news. Commercials advertise one drug after another because your life cannot be tolerable without their product. You venture out to appointments and chores and it seems a smile is hard to come by. If you do have a friendly and positive disposition, you get sideways looks as if there is something seriously wrong with you. The devil and the world do not want you to have a good day, let alone a good life. There is always something coming that will ruin what sunshine you have. If the sky is blue, then the world will point out the one cloud above! My wife is a Weather Channel addict. If you are not ready to end it all, just put that channel on and listen to the bumper music! It could be 72 degrees with no humidity and they will play that bumper music that says there is something ominous on the horizon. Solomon tells us it is ok to be joyful and enjoy life. Is life perfect? It never will be. Does that mean we have to be miserable? Not at all. It’s ok to laugh. It’s ok to smile. You have permission.
I particularly like the sentence, “let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment.” I don’t know why. It simply stands out to me. Perhaps Solomon is trying to capture the feeling of living your day the way you start it out. A nice long hot shower followed by fresh clean clothes with a dash of scent seems the perfect way to start a day. Before reality hits you in the face and life comes at you with all it has, you start the day fresh, clean, rested, and caffeine infused. When I think of this phrase, I think of first thing in the morning. My routine is to rise, shower, and then tend to the dog. Sometimes, I am in my house cloths. When I take the dog out, it is very quiet. That is something. Particularly because I live in a county of 1.4 million people. Quiet doesn’t happen often. The air is cool, and the wind is calm. One can hear the birds singing back and forth. There is little noise other than the natural noises of God’s creation. Peaceful doesn’t really describe it. It is the time of day free from negative influence and full of hope. We walk around. He does his thing. We walk up and down the sidewalk. He stops. He sniffs the air. He looks around at nothing. Then we go in. I sit with a cup of coffee and my bible. It is God’s time! I think this might be what Solomon is referring to. Before the world has a chance to throw mud on your clean white clothes and the cologne wears off, enjoy the moment. This is the feeling we should carry as much as possible.
It is ok to be happy. It is ok to be content. You have God’s permission. Life doesn’t have to be a continue set of crises. It is ok to smile. It is ok to sniff the roses. It is ok to notice the good while surrounded by the bad. We don’t have to be discouraged. We don’t have to be downtrodden. We don’t have to wait for the other shoe to drop. It really is ok to be joyful. If the doctor thinks you have a screw loose because someone in your condition should not be as happy as you are, tell him to put away the screwdriver and leave it be! The world and the devil try to make you feel guilty over a good mood. Don’t let that happen. Jesus tells us that no man can steal our joy. If we lose our joy, we are the ones who gave it away! So, put a smile on that face. Put a spring in your step. Rejoice that you know the LORD and your home in heaven is secure. And the next time the devil or the world tries to make you feel guilty that you are happy, tell them to go pound sand!
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