![[Photo of a Scripture verse]](https://www.deankwilson.com/Blog_images/Ecclesiastes_2_24-25.jpg)
| “A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?” |
| —Ecclesiastes 2:24-25 |
Sometimes I wonder if we really understand what the Apostle James was writing about when he penned these words found in James 1:17:
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
This verse of Scripture means exactly what it says. Everything in our lives that is truly good and truly perfect has come to us as a gift from God. He is the Giver. We are the recipients. He gives and we receive.
Nothing we have is as a result of our ability to earn it. We do not deserve anything good in our lives. We are wretched, terrible, awful sinners. It is only through God’s mercy, grace, and love that we have been redeemed from our sin by the precious blood of Jesus.
We reach an important step in our spiritual formation when we recognize, accept, and celebrate the reality that all that we are and all that we have has come to us as a precious gift from God. If we look at our lives and declare that we have good people and good things in our lives, then they have come to us as a gift from God. If we see that we have talents and abilities to do things in a better, more effective, way than others, then that has come to us as a gift from God.
King Solomon knew this fact, as well. Here he was, the son of one of the greatest men in all of Scripture, King David. God had given Solomon great wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. There was no problem that Solomon could not solve, no challenge that he could not meet, no obstacle that he could not overcome. Not only was Solomon brilliant, he was handsome. He experienced excellent health. He accumulated great wealth, great power, and great stature in his world.
But, Solomon also knew that all that he was and all that he had acquired had come to him as a precious gift from God. Notice what he writes at the end of his life, as recorded in Ecclesiastes 2:24-26:
A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?
To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
A key phrase from this discourse is “…for without him…” Without God, without a vibrant, personal relationship with Him, nothing matters. Without Him, the world around us is bleak and cold. Without Him, the relationships we have with others lack the depth and warmth we desire. Without Him, we cannot possibly meet head on the trials and difficulties of life. Without Him, we cannot fully enjoy the many wonderful gifts that come to us from His loving hand.
As a new day opens up before us, let us recognize with the totality of our beings that without God our lives would stink with the rot of eternal death. But, with Him—with God—our lives have the sweet perfume of God’s mercy, grace, and abiding love. The aroma of the Lord Jesus Christ has infused every pore of our being. And, that scent of victory over sin, death, and Satan gives off an aroma that God uses to draw men, women, boys, and girls to Himself.
