Gifts for Moms, Dads, and Grads
$5 Book of the Month-April 2026
A Profound Strategy to Help You Follow Christ with Integrity the Rest of Your Life
Bold Enjoyment
How can you and I stay steady and keep following Christ all the way to our final breath? What makes us sustainable over the long haul? How can you and I not end up not betraying one another’s trust?
Just the other day I heard about yet another pastor, a friend of mine, who shattered his life and ministry with an “inappropriate relationship.” I am tired of getting let down like that. You too? I’m guessing the answer is yes. And it’s not as though there is only one way for us to wreck our lives. Satan has many tricks up his sleeve. But then God has many more strategies to carry us forward.
Here is one way our Father helps us keep going with solid integrity until the day we die. And I’ll bet you five American dollars this one isn’t on your to-do list for today. Am I being too bold? If so, I apologize—and you’ve won my five bucks! But I think it’s a safe bet.
So, I’ll put this profoundly wise strategy right out on the table. Here it is: . . . [drumroll!] . . . enjoying the enjoyable!
You read that right. Enjoyment. It’s a brilliant tactic for serious Christians living in a confused world.
Eat, Drink, and Be Merry
Ray Ortlund
Meditating on Ecclesiastes 11:9–10, Pastor Ray Ortlund encourages readers to set aside our dour limitations and joyfully embrace the many good gifts God lavishes upon this world.
Here are words for it: Savoring. Tasting. Noticing. Appreciating. Relishing. Delighting. Celebrating. Laughing. Relaxing. Playing. Conversing. Smiling. Feasting. Sharing. Thanking. We have many words to describe it, because God gives us many ways to receive it.
Bold enjoyment for the sake of sustainable integrity is taught in the Bible. Ecclesiastes 11:9–10 guides us onto this profound and happy path for daily living:
Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity.
That passage raises many questions, doesn’t it? But for now, I’ll limit myself to three insights we gain from this startlingly wonderful passage.
One, this passage comes from one of the Wisdom books of the Bible. What is biblical wisdom? It is the acquired skill of living well in a complicated world. The Bible gives us many blunt commands, like “You shall not commit adultery” (Ex. 20:14). That clarity helps. We sure don’t have to flip a coin! But sometimes we don’t have a Bible verse to go by. We have to make a judgment call on the fly. And in those many moments we need wisdom. It’s a knack for making a good decision. And it’s not us being brilliant. The wisdom of Jesus enters our hearts as we follow him (Prov. 2:10). It’s like gaining a taste for healthy food, or like having a good sense of directions while driving home. Wisdom is practical skill for daily life, by God’s grace.
And some books in the Bible specialize in wisdom, like James in the New Testament, or Proverbs, the Song of Solomon, Job, and Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament. Here God counsels us as we face the various challenges of this life. And our passage here in Ecclesiastes is deep wisdom for young people, helping them get a great start in life.
Two, this passage is both a liberation and a warning.
The liberation is this: God, your Father, is inviting you to look around, notice the many enjoyments he is offering you, and go for it! That sport you love to play, that subject at school that fascinates you, that career track you’d love to reach for, and so forth—you are pre-approved to explore, discover, and enjoy! Get after it, and have a blast along the way!
The warning is this: You will stand before God one day and give him an account for how you have lived this life. So don’t be selfish, reckless, oblivious. Honor Christ and love others in all you do. But that path of godly wisdom is not dreary, not grim, not confining. It is strewn with delights! And every ungodly path is mined with miseries. Be warned.
We need both the liberation of God’s generous bounty and the warning of God’s moral order. It’s a both/and, not an either/or. And God’s moral order includes his wise counsel to enjoy the enjoyable! It is a sin to sit there and sulk, letting life pass you by.
Three, if you and I revere the Bible as the Word of God, then how should we respond to this word from God? Dare to believe it. Dare to receive it. Dare to live it out.
Something within us might prefer to hang back with low-grade misery as our blah daily “meh.” But that mentality is a sin against our gracious Creator, calling for immediate repentance.
Here is the biblical truth: God, your Father above, is spreading before you the feast of his creation. On any given day, he is giving you personally some portion of that whole. You might not have the ideal designer life you once dreamed of. But don’t fret over what God hasn’t given you. Notice what he has given you, and boldly make the most of it!
What opportunities for enjoyment lie before you today? Maybe stopping on your way to work for just two minutes to gaze at the sky, the clouds, the hills along your route. Maybe calling your mom during lunch, telling her you love her, sharing a happy memory and a laugh. Maybe taking your dog for a walk in the neighborhood after dinner and saying hi to some folks. God is opening doors for you to enjoy the enjoyable today. Yes, some days are horrible. But most days we are quite capable of enjoyment, if we’ll dare to follow the wisdom of Ecclesiastes.
So, there’s the strategy for you and me to keep going day by day, faithfully living for Christ all the way to the end. Enjoyment renews your soul. Enjoyment fortifies you against temptation. Enjoyment torments the devil. Enjoyment pleases the Lord. And enjoyment gives you more to offer your suffering generation.
The Lord is so, so good to us. And our part in it all? Basically, this:
- We humble ourselves.
- We enjoy his kindnesses.
- We give thanks.
- We repeat 1 through 3.
Such grace! So go have a saintly blast today!
Ray Ortlund is the author of Eat, Drink, and Be Merry: A Gospel Call to Bold Enjoyment.
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