"Rejoice, young man, during your childhood, and let your heart be pleasant during the days of young manhood. And follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes. Yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things."
Ecclesiastes 11:9 NASB1995
It’s one thing to say “We need to have self-control”, and it’s another thing entirely to be able to do that. How do you learn to have/maintain self-control? There are several ways and techniques we need to be trained by to use. We have to do that consciously until our conscience is trained by it and it becomes more natural to us.
Our sin is often related to our perspective (or the lack thereof), and so we will often find our solutions there. For example, in our first three days of passages, we studied that we had to have the 1) Perspective of Joshua 2) Perspective of Possession 3) Perspective of Fortress Walls. And here, now, in Ecclesiastes we learn the “Eternal Perspective”.
There is a meme that popularly makes the rounds on social media that says “The Bible Doesn’t Say Follow Your Heart...’”. That’s not entirely true, as we can see from Ecclesiastes 11:9. Here, we have instruction to follow the impulses of the heart, but… BUT… to do so with an "eternal perspective" in mind. This is from wisdom: a wise perspective to have is an eternal perspective.
God has blessed us in this life and fully wants us to enjoy this life in the flesh as we have the opportunity to do so in righteousness, holiness, and wisdom. I can enjoy the pleasure of juice from the grape without alcohol. I can enjoy a medium-rare Angus steak without arrogance or gluttony. I can enjoy a Crumbl cookie, just maybe not an entire box in one sitting. I can enjoy a relaxing time lounging on a vacation without becoming a lazy sluggard. I can enjoy the physical pleasures of intimacy within the safe and loving marriage relationship instituted by God. Desire, lust, and temptation can try to lead us farther, lead us beyond, to trangress the boundaries of the wisdom, righteousness, and holiness of God, and that is where self-control comes in.
I will be judged. You will be judged. We will all be judged. “Follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes, yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all these things.” That perspective of judgment and eternal consequences should help temper our passions and desires. It should put our lust in check. If that eternal perspective is trained into our hearts and minds then it will stop our souls, the impulses of our hearts, and the desires of our eyes from going too far! From transgressing. It will stop them in their tracks
“Rejoice” indeed! (v.9) God has blessed you with a wonderful life and the means to enjoy so many delights and pleasures; but have those blessings bring you closer to Him and keep you close to Him, rather than lead you away from Him… forever. Be thankful, have a heart full of gratitude, let your heart be pleasant in the knowledge and experience of these blessings, and use an eternal perspective to help you maintain self-control, and not go too far with those opportunities and blessings and end up paying for it... eternally.
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