A Word to the Wise: A Profound Strategy to Help You Follow Christ with Integrity the Rest of Your Life
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: . . . enjoying the enjoyable!
You read that right. Enjoyment. It’s a brilliant tactic for serious Christians living in a confused 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.
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!
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.
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.
Ray Ortlund, Crossway email, 4.20.26. He is the author of Eat, Drink, and Be Merry: A Gospel Call to Bold Enjoyment.
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: . . . enjoying the enjoyable!
You read that right. Enjoyment. It’s a brilliant tactic for serious Christians living in a confused 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.
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!
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.
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.
Ray Ortlund, Crossway email, 4.20.26. He is the author of Eat, Drink, and Be Merry: A Gospel Call to Bold Enjoyment.
Four Things to Know This Week
1. Pace Receives Unanimous Vote to be Southeastern Seminary President (Baptist Press)
2. Mohler Calls for End to Confusion Around Pastoral Role (Biblical Recorder)
3. Longtime Church Planter Tells About What It Will Take to Reach the West (Baptist Press)
4. Pastors, Churchgoers See AI as Concerning, Confusing (Lifeway Research)
Thank you for reading. Please share it with pastors and other AMSs you believe would benefit.
To the praise of His glory,
Ray
P. S. I also host the “SBCAL Podcast with Ray Gentry” each Tuesday morning.
1. Pace Receives Unanimous Vote to be Southeastern Seminary President (Baptist Press)
2. Mohler Calls for End to Confusion Around Pastoral Role (Biblical Recorder)
3. Longtime Church Planter Tells About What It Will Take to Reach the West (Baptist Press)
4. Pastors, Churchgoers See AI as Concerning, Confusing (Lifeway Research)
Thank you for reading. Please share it with pastors and other AMSs you believe would benefit.
To the praise of His glory,
Ray
P. S. I also host the “SBCAL Podcast with Ray Gentry” each Tuesday morning.
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