CARPE DIEM, ENJOY LIFE
Translated by Talyta Rolim
Base Text: Ec 11.8 – 12.7 (NIV version)
If you already know this
phrase and hear it what goes on in your head? Carpe Diem is a Latin
phrase, written a poem by Horace, Roman poet and philosopher who lived
shortly before Christ, it means, "reap the day" or "seize the
moment". Prof. Keating, character played by Robin Williams in the movie
“Dead Poets Society”, 1989, also recited it in the following sentence:
"Carpe, carpe diem, reap the day boys, make your lives
extraordinary."
When you hear the term
"enjoy the moment”, what do you think? By reading the Bible book of
Ecclesiastes, I realized that the king and wise Solomon makes this call to his
readers: "However many years anyone may live,
let them enjoy them all"
(v. 8). But, before you go out to get drunk, pick up every girl or boy, hook up
with whoever you want and enjoy a life without rules, look at the life of King
Solomon first!
We can say that he had
everything to enjoy life well. Had a lot of wisdom and knowledge (2 Chronicles
1.11,12). The Lord appeared to him twice (1 Kings 3 and 9). He built a vast
empire, great power and immense fame and fortune with several servants at his
disposal (Ecclesiastes 2.4-9). Had seven hundred wives and three hundred
concubines (1 Kings 11:3). All this is the dream of many people! I am not so
sure about the latter. One woman is enough, please! (lol)
Although the Sage had it
all, he was a lousy father, his son Rehoboam was more foolish than a donkey (1
Kings 12.1-19), was unfaithful to his beloved Shulamite (1 Kings 11:3), became
vain for his wealth and wisdom (1 Kings 10), and denied the law of the Lord and
walked away from God (1 Kings 11). All this led him to ruin! That is why we see
a book written with so much "frustration" by a king already
"old" (between 56 and 58 years - currently this is not even the best
age). "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless."(1.2b).
THE CALLING
In the base text Solomon
calls the youth to follow the desires of their hearts (v. 9), to turn away from
the anxiety and suffering (v.10) and to remember the Creator before old age and
death (v.1-7). Moreover, throughout Ecclesiastes, he recommends everyone to
manage their time well (3.1), to enjoy the rewards of their work (3.22), to
seek wisdom and knowledge with balance (7.11,12) and to remember that God judge
all man’s deeds with no distinction (3.17, 11.9).
So, simply enjoy life is
not to miss the opportunities, enjoy every moment with good company and lots of
fun, spend time on what is really necessary and worthy of investment, enjoy
their own work, and especially fear the Lord.
Some may find the
example of Solomon; or that the Carpe Diem is another hedonistic concept; or
even be influenced by ecclesiastical traditionalism, by the church, which
conditioned Christians to follow rules, many unbiblical, but human, and they
might find the term Carpe Diem very dangerous. - "Ah! This can lead people
to do what they want ". However, remember the advice of the Sage ("However many years anyone may live, let them enjoy them all") and the words of Professor
Keating ("make your lives extraordinary").
SO, WHY ENJOY
LIFE?!
1. God created the Earth for man enjoy
it
“The Lord God took the
man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and cultivate it "(Gen.
2:15). Garden of Eden refers to the world. All there is on earth is for the man
to enjoy. God did not create man to nature; it was the reverse. Unfortunately, because
the fall of the man "to enjoy" was replaced by "to
devastate" and by "to preserve". These two distortions lead to
two opposites: extract everything that nature can contribute to human wealth or
defend it as a greater good than the man himself.
So, we need to
understand that the vast natural wealth serves to be fully enjoyed by the man.
All that nature provides is our God-given right, but we cannot extract
everything without replacement and / or inadequate infrastructure. God created
the earth for man to enjoy it!
2. God created man as a
relational being
"Two are better than one, because they have a good
return for their labor" (Ecclesiastes 4:9). We live surrounded by people: family,
friends, boyfriend, girlfriend, fiancé (e), spouse, colleagues, acquaintances
etc. Each person requires our attention, respect and love. However, we are
indoctrinated to be individualistic. When we apply to individualism, we often
despise others, turn people away from us and isolate ourselves. With this, we
suffer with loneliness, depression and unhappiness.
Why do many
relationships, including marriages end up so fast? Why do so many friends
become enemies? Why do parents and children fight? Why God is not worshiped for
who He is, but for what He can offer? Because each person seeks their own
desires and dreams at the expense of others! They disregard those who are
around them and love themselves as their sole master. But, it was not why God
created us. Jesus said: "Love the Lord, your God and similarly your
neighbor as yourself" (Mark 12.30,31) and "Love your enemies and pray
for those who persecute you" (Matthew 5:43.) We need to understand that it
is a necessity to maintain our relationships with people. God created man to
maintain healthy relationships.
3. God is glorified when
we bear fruits
"My Father is
glorified, when you bear much fruit" (John 15:8). Let's use the syllogism!
We glorify God when we bear fruit. How to fructify?! Maintaining a relationship
with Him and reaching people with the Gospel of the Kingdom. How to do this?
Through our testimonies. How do we testify? Being imitators of Christ, as
beloved children. What did Jesus do to be imitated? Seized the opportunities of
life. Therefore, we can say that God is glorified when we take life's
opportunities.
Jesus is the best
example of someone who took his time well. Just look what He did in just three
years of ministry. Moreover, He also leaves his example in relationships, in love
for people, in the use of wisdom, in dependence on God, for good deeds and
discipline. So if we are changed into the same image of Christ, by the Spirit
of Lord (2 Corinthians 3:18), how do we show this transformation if not taking
advantage of the opportunities? We need to understand that fructify is enjoying
life and God is glorified in it.
SO, HOW CAN WE ENJOY LIFE?
1. Understand why enjoy
life
Understand that God
created the Earth so that we fully enjoy it; God created us to relate with Him
and with one another and God is glorified when we fructify and seize
opportunities in life. This first tip will help to know our rights as human
beings and our duty as creature and child of God. As we have already addressed
this earlier, I will not go back to it anymore.
2. Maintain healthy relationships
"Each of us should please his neighbor for
their good, to build them up" (Romans 15:2)
Beyond what we've talked earlier
about healthy relationships, I want to add the following conclusion: a
relationship is healthy when there is mutual edification, that is, when people
involved in the relationship contribute to mutual growth.
I see there are many
romances and friendships full of jealousy, where one does not like to share the
boyfriend/girlfriend and friend with others. Remember that jealousy is the work
of the flesh as reported in Galatians 5! It has a very great danger in this
type of relationship because one partner tries to keep the other isolated from
family, friends and brothers, making him an "island", in which will
only be the two of them. Herein, the false lover or friend puts the
“claws" out and mistreat the helpless. If the person is engaged or is
profoundly weak to withstand the pressures, because he is alone, others suffer
in the hand of the executioner.
Therefore, I give this
second tip for enjoying life: keep healthy relationships and move away from
anyone trying to isolate you from those who love you. This person is extremely
dangerous!
3. Seek wisdom and knowledge with balance
"How blessed is
the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding, for wisdom is more
profitable than silver and yields more than gold" (Proverbs 3.13,14).
"So I struggled to understand the wisdom and madness and folly, but I
learned that this is also chasing after the wind. For greater wisdom, greater
suffering; and the more knowledge, the more grief. "(Ecclesiastes 1:17-18)
In the first text,
Solomon encourages us to seek wisdom and knowledge to achieve happiness. In the
second he says that his effort to understand the wisdom, madness and folly is
useless and that the more wisdom and knowledge, greater is the suffering and
grief. This is a contradiction, isn't it? Of course not! Solomon is being
friendly!
Indeed the wise person
makes a difference in society and can enjoy life more, but the Sage wanted to
go beyond wisdom, he wanted to understand it. This is not possible because only
God understands it. He also sought to increase the wisdom and knowledge he
possessed, but it also increased his responsibility. More people sought him to
resolve their issues. Which made his wisdom become, to some extent, a burden to
Solomon. Who works well feeling heavy and overloaded? I believe anybody!
Then, the third tip is
that instead of letting the wisdom and knowledge overcome us, we must seek them
with balance to enjoy a life as God intended for us.
4. Learn to manage your time
"To everything there is a certain
occasion; There is a time for every purpose under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3.1)
Throughout chapter 3
of Ecclesiastes God states that He has appointed a certain period for each
stage in the life cycle, i.e., the Lord made the time at the right time for us
to live and seize every important moment. Because of sin, things lost its true
meanings and man learned to include in his everyday unimportant things and make
them a priority. Therein we lost track of time.
How many have ever
heard or said: "I do not have time for this?" In fact, we have this
bad habit, but what we really need is to learn to manage our time. We need to
raise awareness that the 24 hours given by God is enough to do what is
necessary. Organize our agenda and our priorities would be the first step for
an efficient administration. This is the fourth tip for enjoying life.
5. Prioritize what is
really priority
"But seek first the
kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto
you" (Mt 6:33)
There is an ancient
understanding that when the Bible says "seek first the kingdom of
God" means that we must put God first in our lives. That is correct! In
addition, there is an interpretation that makes us think that we build a
hierarchy between God, family, friends, work, school, church, ministry, and
other necessary areas. This is wrong!
When we build a hierarchy,
we treat all areas of life separately. Therein, tasks that I do for God are
separated from family, fraternal, labor, academic and church activities; as
well as family from the fraternal etc.. So, the correct understanding is that
God does not want us to build a hierarchy, where He is the first place, but
that He is included in all vital processes.
From there, who
prioritize God will put Him in all aspects of life: family, friendships, work,
studies and church. Here it is important to think that life is not full of
independent "boxes", but, in fact, is a tangle of interconnected
wires, in which each factor depends on the other. Do not think about your job
without it not being connected to your family. Do not think about your family,
your work, your studies, your friendships without God included in those areas.
Then, the fifth tip is precisely this: prioritize what is really priority - God.
6. Fear the Lord and be obedient to Him
"My son, forget
not my law, but keep my commandments in heart, for they will prolong your life
for many years and give you peace and prosperity." (Prov. 3.1,2).
"Now we've heard it all, here is the conclusion: Fear God and keep his
commandments, for this is the whole duty of man." (Ecclesiastes 12:13). In
these and other passages, we always see: fear God and obey Him. The Lord,
through His prophets and poets, like David and Solomon, emphasizes this theme
of obedience in the Bible constantly.
In the definition of
fear brought by Oxford, we see this: "act or effect of fear; scare; and a
mixed feeling of reverence and dread: the fear of God”. This same dictionary
makes the caveat that fear is reverence or respect for God: "fear of
God". In addition, the concept of obedience extracted from the same
dictionary was the following: "submissive to the will of someone; docility;
and subjection, dependence". Thus, when I say 'subject to the Lord and be
obedient to Him' I mean the following: have respect for the Lord and be
obedient to His will. And, I do not say this simply because it is the law,
period. No! There is a consequence to this.
As man is selfish by
nature there has to be some gain. So this is the gain, 'his days be prolonged
and you will prosper.' However, there is another truth: it is part of the
essence of the man the need to fear and obey God. That is why we see so many
people worshiping an entity (even themselves). Therefore, it is the sixth tip
for enjoying life: fear the Lord and be obedient to Him.
7. Abandon the old man
once and for all
"As to the former
way of life, you were taught to put off your old self, which is being corrupted
by its deceitful desires, to be renewed in the way of thinking and to put on
the new self, created to be like God in righteousness and in holiness from the
truth."(Eph 4.22-24)
The old man is that guy
with a penchant for fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and greed
(which is idolatry), and stuck to hatred, anger, malice, defamation, to swear
and lie (Cl 3.5,8,9). The creature to whom Jesus Christ came to set free is
this guy. People who understand and accept that are sons and daughters of God
and renewed and transformed in Christ should abandon this old man, who is
nothing more than the man who is taken before regeneration by the Lord in the
conversion and total surrender. Therefore, this is the seventh, the last and
most challenging tip: leave the old man behind to enjoy your life.
Finally, before all this
understanding of Carpe Diem and these tips to enjoy life, you no longer have to
accept the concept that is to enjoy what you want from life. Carpe Diem, guided
by Solomon in Ecclesiastes, is nothing more than this: living in every moment
of life, enjoying everything in wisdom and fear of God, understanding what God
created you for, valuing who you are and what you have, organizing your time,
prioritizing what is really necessary and being the one who the Lord created -
a new man in Christ. In all this, you will find that your days will be better
forever. Amen!
Read text in Portuguese: http://jmarcosbezerra.blogspot.com.br/2012/08/carpe-diem-aproveite-vida.html
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