Ecclesiastes: Under the Sun and Above It
Enjoy Life with the Lord's Gifts
Ecclesiastes 5:18–20
Ed Rangel · September 13, 2026 · PM
1
2
God gives us life and enables us to enjoy what He provides
We owe Him thanks
3
A man can spend his life getting more and never enjoy what he has
4
Even at supper with his family, he is thinking about money
He worries about what he owns and what he lacks
5
Enjoy the food and the work God has given you
We have only so many years
6
Wealth cannot overcome dissatisfaction, worry, loss, or death
Ecclesiastes 5:10–17
7
Those who fear God still lose things they love
God also gives them good things to enjoy
8
I
Enjoy the Good in the Life God Has Given You
Ecclesiastes 5:18
9
Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat, to drink and enjoy oneself in all one's labor in which he toils under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him; for this is his reward.
Ecclesiastes 5:18 · NASB
10
The Preacher speaks of enjoying a meal and taking satisfaction in work
Ecclesiastes 5:18
11
You need not feel guilty for enjoying what God permits and provides
12
Hard work can bring the satisfaction of finishing a job
God provides for our families through our labor
13
The years themselves come from God
We have fewer years ahead than we sometimes care to admit
14
If you wait until every problem is settled, you may spend your whole life waiting
15
Thank God for the food and listen to the people sitting with you
16
For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude;
1 Timothy 4:4 · NASB
17
for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.
1 Timothy 4:5 · NASB
18
II
The Ability to Enjoy Is Also God's Gift
Ecclesiastes 5:19
19
Furthermore, as for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, He has also empowered him to eat from them and to receive his reward and rejoice in his labor; this is the gift of God.
Ecclesiastes 5:19 · NASB
20
God gives this man wealth and enables him to enjoy it
The verse calls that enjoyment a gift
21
He depends on God even for the ability to enjoy what he owns
22
a man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor so that his soul lacks nothing of all that he desires; yet God has not empowered him to eat from them, for a foreigner enjoys them. This is vanity and a severe affliction.
Ecclesiastes 6:2 · NASB
23
Owning something does not guarantee that we will enjoy it
Thank God when He grants both
24
Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.
James 1:17 · NASB
25
Thank God for your food and for the appetite to eat it
Thank Him when you can take satisfaction in your work
26
A person who finds little enjoyment in life may be grieving or ill
We must not assume that he has failed God
27
Be patient with the person who is having a hard time
You may know nothing about what he is suffering
28
He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?
Romans 8:32 · NASB
29
III
God Gives Gladness Within Our Passing Years
Ecclesiastes 5:20
30
For he will not often consider the years of his life, because God keeps him occupied with the gladness of his heart.
Ecclesiastes 5:20 · NASB
31
His years are still few
Ecclesiastes 5:18
32
He does not spend all his time worrying about how quickly life is passing
God gives him something to enjoy
33
A man can give thanks for his children while grieving his wife's death
Ecclesiastes 5:20 leaves room for sorrow
34
The people we love are growing older
We know that a pleasant evening will end
35
Appreciate the time you have with the people you love
Thank God for it while you have it
36
He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity.
Ecclesiastes 5:10 · NASB
37
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1 Peter 1:3 · NASB
38
to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
1 Peter 1:4 · NASB
39
who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
1 Peter 1:5 · NASB
40
Be glad when someone else buys a new house or gets a better job
His good news need not become your complaint
41
If you are hurting, tell a brother or sister what you need
Let the church help you
42
Invite someone who lives alone to eat with you
Ask what you can do to help, and follow through
43
Loving money will leave us unsatisfied, however much we accumulate
Our years are few
44
We need forgiveness through Jesus Christ
He died for our sins and rose from the dead
45
Hear, believe, repent, confess, and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins
Then live faithfully in His service · Acts 2:38
46
And Peter said to them, "Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2:38 · NASB
47
Repent and put the Lord first again
If you need the prayers of the church, let us pray with you
48
Receive God’s gifts with gratitude
Ecclesiastes 5:18–20
49
1 / 49
Created with Ed Slide Gen · Keeping the Faith