The Alternative

Dr. Tony Evans: God gives you permission to have fun.

Host (Male): But Dr. Tony Evans says enjoying that fun requires a balance of healthy values and habits.

Dr. Tony Evans: God has given you a gift of time and a gift of life, and He wants you to max it out legitimately.

Host (Male): This is the Alternative broadcast, featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. It's part of human nature to seek out a life of meaning and purpose. But seeking it doesn't guarantee finding it, leading to the frustration and hopelessness so many people often feel. Today, Dr. Evans shares the secret of making the most out of life while there's still time. Let's join him.

Dr. Tony Evans: The book of Ecclesiastes, chapter one, verse two: "Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher, everything is vanity." Emptiness, without purpose, meaninglessness. He's dealing with life under the sun. That is life on Earth where men live, work, play, raise families, marry, bury. He's dealing with real life. If you're looking for the meaning of life in life, you'll miss life.

The way life works under the sun, that is on Earth, is that it is full of ups and downs, ins and outs, good and bad. We know that by our own experience. We just don't know it like he knew it, because he could afford to find out how bad it could be. Have you ever felt like this? Every morning, you get up out of that same old bed. You go to that same old bathroom and look in that same old mirror at that same old face. Go to that same old closet to choose from those same old clothes.

You go to the refrigerator, you open the refrigerator, look at those same old options for breakfast. You go in that same old garage, you get in that same old car to drive that same old highway to that same old job, working with those same old people for that same old pay. You get off of work, you get back in that same old car, you drive back down that same old road to that same old house and hear that same old noise from those same old kids.

You pick up that same old remote because you're sitting in that same old chair to watch those same old shows, to go into the kitchen to get the same old dinner cooked by that same old person. And then you go to bed the same old way, and it becomes a routine. That's why we're so anxious to break the routine when life becomes predictable.

When he opens up chapter three, that is the mood even then. "There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven," because he's under the sun, down on Earth. "To give birth, to die, plant, uproot, kill, heal, tear down, build up, weep, laugh, mourn, dance, throw stones, gather stones, embrace, shun embracing, to search and to give up as lost, to keep, to throw away, to tear apart, to sew together, to be silent, to speak up, to love, to hate, to war, to peace."

I know people often use this when things happen to say, well, it's a time for everything. But that's not quite what he's saying. He's not saying it in that spirit that there's a time for everything. He's saying we're trapped. That's what he's saying. We're trapped. We're trapped between competing realities. It's almost fatalism. He's saying, I'm tired of the routine. I'm tired of this circle where life is like this and it's so routine.

I've got to just take it as it comes because one day it's gonna be up, the next day it's gonna be down. I'm gonna be healthy, then I'm gonna be sick. I'm gonna get up, I'm gonna go to bed. It's just the routine. When you get that routine long enough and deep enough, things become boring. So he's wrestling, he's pondering, and the Holy Spirit allows his pondering to be recorded as Scripture so that you and I could understand that if you're looking for the meaning of life in life, you miss life.

He's not saying that things you do have no meaning for the thing. He's saying it doesn't answer the question about life. And then he says something that's a little curious in verse 10. "I have seen the task which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves." Why, God? Why have You placed me and locked me into this cage called life with its good days and bad days, ups and downs, yeses and nos, to this closed universe?

Verse 11: "He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their hearts, yet so that men will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end." Now, what he is saying there is that God has intentionally created time in such a way that it cannot bring ultimate fulfillment. So what He has done is set eternity in their hearts, in our hearts. That is, He's created a vacuum that all men have, which is why all men everywhere on the planet demand religion.

No matter where you go on the planet, men demand religion because they need something outside of this thing. They need something transcendent. And if they don't have a religion, they will make one because they need to break this cycle. He says He sets eternity in their hearts. That is, a desire to break out of time. Eternity means no time.

Verse 12: "I know that there is nothing better for them, for men, than to rejoice and do good in one's lifetime. Moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor, it is the gift of God." Interesting. We want eternity because we want to break out of the routine of time. But in time, God says you cannot get ultimate meaning in time, but you can get enjoyment in time.

So he distinguishes between the issue of meaning and enjoyment. There are things we enjoy. There are foods we enjoy, there's entertainment we enjoy, there's friends we enjoy. God gives you permission to have fun. God gives you permission to have fun. Because you and I have been locked into this hamster cage called life and time, since you're here, you might as well enjoy it because this is where you are.

Host (Male): Dr. Evans will return in a moment with more about getting the most out of life before our appointed time is up. Before that, the message you've been hearing today comes from Tony's teaching series, *How to Avoid a Wasted Life*, an honest and insightful look at what the Bible has to say about the complexities of life, pleasure, and meaning.

Through these lessons, you'll discover why a humble walk with God is the key to rising above life's uncertainties and experiencing the joy and purpose only He can provide. There's a lot packed into this powerful series, and all nine messages are yours as our thank-you gift when you make a contribution to support our work here at the Alternative.

And for a limited time, along with the audio collection, we'll also send you Dr. Evans' book *Experiencing God Together*. It's a practical, encouraging resource that shows how loving others well becomes a powerful way to experience God's presence more fully in your everyday life. To take advantage of this special offer, visit tonyevans.org where you'll find this deal featured right on the homepage, or give us a call at 1-800-800-3222 and let a friendly member of our resource team help you out. I'll repeat that contact information after the second part of today's lesson. And this: what happens when faith meets the edge of survival? On the Unbound podcast, Dr. Tony Evans shares stories shaped by hardship, purpose, and redemption.

Guest (Male): At one point in my life, I could have gone down the path where probably years in prison or not being here today. Generational trauma can be passed from generation to generation, but so can healing. Forgiveness can be the key that continues to unlock your future.

Host (Male): Unbound with Dr. Tony Evans. Listen now. You can subscribe to the Unbound podcast on Dr. Evans' YouTube channel or on your favorite podcast platform. Right now, let's get back to today's lesson.

Dr. Tony Evans: We're stuck in a hamster cage with this same old, same old routine that we can't break out of but we long to break out of because He's put eternity in our hearts. So we want to get out of it, but we can't break out of it. He says, okay, well, while you are here, because you are stuck in time, find some stuff to enjoy. God has given you a gift of time and a gift of life, and He wants you to max it out legitimately.

"I know," verse 14, "that everything God does will remain forever. There is nothing to add to it, and there is nothing to take from it, for God has so worked that men should fear Him." Okay, so God has intentionally created a dissatisfaction in life to drive you and me to Him. To fear God means to take God seriously. So God has created dissatisfaction in life so that if we want the meaning of life, we have to go to Him.

So He's created that. If you're looking for meaning in life, you're going to waste your life trying to find it. It's like folk who say, "I'm trying to find myself." Well, if you're trying to find yourself and you don't know who you are, how will you know when you've located you? You can't change this thing. You can't add to it. You can't take away from it. It's the way it is. Okay, so let's stop fighting this thing. Let's stop trying to make it what you can't make it.

"I said to myself," verse 18, "concerning the sons of men, God has surely tested them in order for them to see that they are but beasts." In other words, when you see the raw nature of men... Who knows the breath of a man that ascends upward and the breath of a beast that descends downward to the Earth? "I have seen that nothing is better than that a man should be happy in his activities, for that is his lot, for who will bring him to see what will occur after him?"

So you have permission, in 1 Timothy chapter six, you have permission to max life out. But what he's going to tell you is to do so responsibly. He goes back to this evil that he sees in chapter four all around him. "Then I looked again at all the acts of oppression which were being done under the sun where men live. And behold, I saw the tears of the oppressed, and that they had no one to comfort them. And on the side of their oppressors was power, but they had no one to comfort them."

So I congratulated the dead who are already dead more than the living who are still living. I know some folks have told me they've just stopped watching the news. It's just pain everywhere. "I have seen that every labor and every skill," verse 4, "which is done is the result of rivalry between a man and his neighbor. This too is vanity and striving after the wind." It's a dog-eat-dog world. See people competing against each other to the harm of one another.

And so much that is done isn't for the good in doing it; it is for the competition in doing it without the care with it. He says, I see that, I observe that, and he's in pain. He's in anguish, just as you and I when we see things that we know are crooked or evil or hurtful to other people. He's feeling life under the sun, and he's rawly telling you what it is and how it looks and how it feels.

Now, the fool folds his hands and consumes his own flesh. Okay, he's talking about the lazy dude now. He's folding his hands. He ain't doing nothing. Oh, he's doing something; he's waiting for a handout. In other words, he's not being productive at all. So you've got the business people competing even to the destruction of one another, dog-eat-dog world. You've got the fool, he's doing nothing.

"One hand full of rest is better than two fists full of labor and striving after the wind." Let me talk about that. Let me talk about this now. Listen. One hand and being at rest is better than two hands full of labor and striving after the wind. Now, watch this. The fool rests both hands. The fool has his hands, plural. He's doing nothing. He's just lazy.

And let me just say a word about this politically. When you hear discussions about helping the poor, you have to clarify the question. You have to ask, why are they poor? From a biblical word, the issue isn't *are* you poor, it's *why* are you poor? Now, if you're poor because of injustice, you've got to address that. But if you're poor because you're lazy, you're supposed to be poor. You're supposed to be poor. The Bible says if a man doesn't work, he ought not eat. So you don't support irresponsibility. I just want to underscore that because he just called that person a fool if you're sitting on both of your hands, you're doing nothing.

But now he condemns the other hand, and that's working with two hands. Because he says two fists full of labor, striving after the wind. In other words, you are a workaholic because you've got both fists going there. You're a workaholic with an empty life, striving after the wind. That's emptiness. Empty life. But you're getting up early, you're staying up late, and you're empty.

He says the better approach, because he's trying to tell you how to live life under the sun. He says, given the hamster cage you're in, it is better for you and me to work hard with one hand and rest than two fists, tight fists. To work with one hand and have rest than two hands and have emptiness. It is better to do less and have less and be at peace than to kill yourself and be miserable. Some people know what it is to be in a smaller house and be happy than a bigger house and not wanting to go into the same spot with that individual.

Now, he's not condemning wealth. He's not condemning hard work. The Bible encourages hard work, but not expecting that work to give you life. And so we often make these promises to ourselves: if I could get here, if I could get there, if I could get here... Okay, the question is why? Is it just to have more? Don't lose your life over your work. I'm talking to me now because I'm a workaholic. I get up early, I stay up late, and I love what I do, so I enjoy it. I'm motivated by joy. But it's easy to make it a goal in itself and to need to sit back and say, "Okay, now why? Why this program? Why this new thing?" to make sure, because it's easy to get caught up, even in ministry.

And the Joneses will kill you. Remember that Temptation song? Don't let the Joneses get you down. Keeping up with the Joneses. Your name ain't Jones. There was a certain man, verse 8, without a dependent, having neither a son nor a brother, yet there was no end to all of his labor. Indeed, his eyes were not satisfied with riches, and he never asked, "And for whom am I laboring and depriving myself of pleasure?" This too is vanity.

So this man has no family, he's working like a dog, he's already got money, but he's trying to get more money. And he never asks, "For who? For what?" You don't have no relatives, you got plenty to live on for yourself, and you're going to die with all this money, never having enjoyed life. Luke 12 talks about a man like this who was building barns and he had a bumper crop. And he says, "What I'm gonna do now is I'm gonna build me bigger barns, then I'm gonna retire, and then I'm gonna enjoy my stuff." And then God showed up and said, "You fool. Tonight your soul is required of you."

Don't wait to live the life God has given you till some future day, because that day may never come. Life under the sun, where men live, not talking about eternity, talking about life now. You may not be what you want to be, you may not have what you want to have, but you make sure you are maximizing all that life can give you legitimately to enjoy while you still are as productive as you can be, so that you live life and don't merely exist in life.

Host (Male): Dr. Tony Evans, talking about how to find meaning in life to enjoy it to the fullest. Now, before we go, if you'd like to review today's lesson or share it with someone you care about, just get in touch with us for details on the message titled "There Is An Appointed Time." You'll receive the full-length version, including content we didn't have time to present on the air.

Better yet, ask about getting it as a part of Tony's complete series, *How to Avoid a Wasted Life*. As I mentioned earlier, this nine-message collection is available right now as our gift to you when you support the ministry. And for a limited time, we'll also include Dr. Evans' book *Experiencing God Together*, a powerful companion that reveals how your relationships can become a pathway to deeper encounters with God. Visit tonyevans.org today to get all the details before time runs out. Again, that's tonyevans.org or call 1-800-800-3222. Our resource center is open 24/7. That's 1-800-800-3222.

Life can present us with some pretty difficult realities, especially if we had some disadvantages to begin with. On Monday, Dr. Evans talks about the biblical principles that can help turn our situation around and empower us to offer hope to others. I hope you'll join us.