Those who are outside of the Christian faith look at Christians and they say, well, these are the folks who don't know how to have fun. They do. They say, these are the people who are down and negative and they just don't know how to be happy. They said, these are the people who never enjoy life. Well, I got news for them. The opposite is true. The opposite is true. Only true

Christians know how to have true enjoyment of life. Only true Christians can have true

permanent happiness in life. Only true Christians can have a lasting peace of mind.

Only true Christians can have an exciting and purposeful

life. Only true Christians have the contentment and the confidence about their identity and their

eternal future. In fact, that's what King Solomon of Old has discovered.

After conducting this controlled experiment, searching for happiness, searching for joy,

and he got away from God in his midlife crisis and looking for it in all the wrong places.

And then he conclude only those who are in fellowship

with God can truly have a fulfilled life. As Solomon tried everything imaginable and some

things probably unimaginable. Why? He would say that he was looking for happiness, that he was looking for joy, that he was looking for something to satisfy him, but he couldn't find it in things. That was his conclusion. And so in chapter 2, verse 25, you find his conclusion. He said, only God can give you true enjoyment of life. Only God can give you contentment

and joy, regardless of your circumstances. He said, I have tried all these other things

that people think are going to bring them happiness. I've tried all these things that people

thought are going to bring them joy and enjoyment, and they brought me nothing but

emptiness, they brought me nothing but monotony, they brought me nothing but meaninglessness.

In fact, they brought me despair of life itself. And so, the Apostle Paul, a thousand years later,

echoes the same thing in 1st Timothy, chapter 6, verse 17.

He said, for the children of the living God, God has given us all things.

How many?

All things for our enjoyment.

God wants his children to be enjoying life, because without him, life is meaningless, but with him, life is

full of meaning. True enjoyment can only come from God. That's Solomon's conclusion at this

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