You who are young, be happy while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment (Ecclesiastes 11:9). I remember how it used to drive me crazy to see unhappy adults when I was growing up, in fact I don’t think crazy is emphatic enough to express how frustrated and scared I used to get when I would look at someone that seemed unhappy with their lives. I just couldn’t believe that the only reason for us to be here on earth was to go into the workforce, have children, and if being lucky get to retire a couple of years before we die. As I grew older this idea never left my mind, but it wasn’t until a year ago that I could say with confidence that I was right! This was never the original design, but it’s been the world lying to us the entire time. Ecclesiastes 11:9 holds the secret to living a meaningful life! And the most beautiful thing is that you get to live this meaningful life right now if you choose to! you don’t have to wait until you have the car, the partner, the money, or all the stuff that the world has told you. This verse is an invitation to be happy and follow the ways of our heart, to listen to our heart, and to do what it says, as well as a reminder that we will be judged upon the things we choose to do. When I first read it, I couldn’t help but ask myself why would it be an invitation to follow my heart, but also a warning that I would be judged upon these things. It just didn’t make sense, but little by little it started to sink in. In my economy class, we were presented with the term opportunity cost, which in a few words can be described as the opportunities we give up when we choose others. For instance, when we choose to run a mile, we give up the opportunity to walk a mile, or when we choose to take the elevator, we give up the opportunity to take the stairs, and vice versa. Every decision we make results in the sacrifice of other decisions we could’ve made, and while it is true that most of the time we won’t know if our judgment was the best until we see the results, wouldn’t it be better if we narrow our chances of choosing wrong? See, many are the desires of our hearts, but which ones will lead us to a meaningful life?
Imagine you just got done with your workout at the gym, and you are starving. You check out the gym and rush to your car so you can start driving home. You get in the car, and it takes you about 15 minutes to get home. When you get home, you open the fridge and notice that there are a couple of pizza slices from yesterday’s gathering with your friends, so you figure it would take too long to cook something healthier, and you choose to eat the pizza. Both meals will fill you and remove the starving feeling that you have, but one meal will have a greater benefit in the future than the other! Let me tell you that life is like being hungry after a heavy workout at the gym my friend. When the author of Ecclesiastes (Salomon) encourages us to follow our heart, he is not encouraging us to follow our “starving” heart, for the heart is deceitful, and wicked (Jeremiah 17:9) but he is encouraging us to follow the new heart that Jesus gives us, a heart to know him (Jeremiah 24:7). The minute we got into this world our heart was influenced by our parents, community, school, and as we grew older social media played a big role on this influence as well. If to this, we add that as humans we tend to want the biggest amount of pleasure with the least amount of effort, there is no wonder why there are so many unhappy adults out there! Our hearts are not following the right things! So, when the years pass and it’s time for us to collect what we sow, we have no other option than to settle for less than who we were meant to be. Earlier I mentioned the term opportunity cost, and I believe that as humans every day we are presented with 2 choices, now remember that choosing one means sacrificing what the other one could’ve given you! These choices are following our heart, or following the new heart that Jesus gives us. Both will fill you, but one will have a way greater impact on your future than the other one. Following your heart is like eating that pizza after your workout, you will get instant pleasure and satisfaction but in the long term, this will play against you. The world will never want you to be at your best, and its intention has always been to have you chasing after the next thing, that’s why if you buy a brand-new car today, in five years you will be thinking about trading it for a “newer one”, or if they get you to compare yourself with the “standard of beauty” you will never be satisfied with who you are! The world presents to you all these ideas that will finally make you “happy”, but the truth is that following these ideas will only fill you temporarily, and then leave you nothing but empty. Our hearts are weak and easily influenced, so when the world’s voice starts to get loud, we have no other option than to follow it, But I am telling you that we need to stop buying into this nasty, unhealthy “pizza” that the world is trying to sell us! Friend, I know that you might not be feeling enough, I know that being young is hard, but the worst part is that none of these feelings will go away when we grow older if we keep eating this trash, Instead, in a couple of years we will find ourselves way unhealthier than we’ve ever been (that’s why Salomon says that we would be judge upon what we follow, because when the time comes for us to sow, we will be given according to what we planted) we can’t expect to have a real fulfilling life if we never planted the seeds of real fulfillment! On the other hand, I have great news for you, you are right on time to stop this unhealthy diet. There is a Chef (Jesus) who promises he has cooked the healthiest and most satisfying meals that you could ever taste! He loves you so much, that has taken the time to create a whole everlasting meal plan for you! A plan that fits your needs, your abilities, and most importantly a plan that fits the real you. The opportunity cost of choosing this option outweighs in every aspect the other. God knows exactly what he created you for, and he has a plan for you! The only thing that he wants from you is for you to follow his heart, why? Because in his heart you will find the purpose of your life, in his heart you will find joy and in his heart you will find an everlasting sense of fulfilment. Friend, today you have the option to start living a meaningful life, a life that will give you more than only temporary pleasure! It doesn’t matter who your parents are, the way you look, your abilities or flaws, Revelations 3:20 says that this Chef that I’ve been talking to you about, stands at the door and knocks, waiting for someone to hear and open. Those who open the door will have the pleasure of dining with him. I want to invite you to lower the world’s voice and turn up your creator’s voice because I can assure you that if in the days of your youth, you follow the right things, not only you will be delighted for a season of your life, but for your entire life!
As always, I am thrilled to be growing with every person that reads these posts. God has plans for us that we can’t even imagine! So, I want to encourage you to either start or continue a relationship with him. He never promised that our lives would be perfect, but I assure you he is the key to living a meaningful one.