Enjoy It

Ecclesiastes 9:7-10
7 Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do.
8 Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head.
9 Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain[b] life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might,[c] for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.

We're going to die - as I'm sure you already know.  It's a universally accepted fact.  Maybe not a liked, popular fact, but a fact nonetheless.  You can't let that eat away at your life, though.  You can't keep dwelling on the inevitable.  Live your life!  Enjoy what you have!  Your life is so short - why waste it?  Why throw it all away?  Glorify God with every passing moment you experience.
But don't get the wrong idea.  When Solomon says to "drink your wine with a merry heart", he doesn't mean get drunk.  He's not telling us to sin while having fun - he's not excusing sin.  He's simply telling us to enjoy life and to work at everything we do with all of our strength.  Why bother putting half-hearted effort into anything when our lives are so brief?
In verse 9, Solomon writes the word "vain" for the first time in chapter 9 of Ecclesiastes.  Keep in mind that he has used this word beforehand, though.  Scholars have found that every time Solomon uses the word "vain" or "vanity" (in the NIV version, "meaningless"), it translates to the same word in Hebrew - hebel.  I've already gone over this word in a previous post, but I want to stress its meaning again.  Hebel: mere breath or vapor.  So when Solomon uses the word "vain" in the ESV and KJV, he doesn't mean useless.  He's simply stressing the point that our lives are short.
In verse 10, Solomon mentions the word I talked about - Sheol.  Like I said, it's what people in Solomon's time, the time before Jesus, thought the dwelling place of the dead was.  The place where lost, forgotten souls drifted.
In verse 8, Solomon says, "Let your garments always be white.  Let not oil be lacking on your head."  Don't take these sayings in the literal sense.  Back in Solomon's time, people would wear white when they were dressing up.  They'd put oils and perfumes on their heads when they wanted to smell nice.  Both of these actions were signs of celebrations.  Solomon's talking about throwing a celebration!  The fact that you're alive is cause enough for a party!