Here is a Monday Motivation as promised! Again, I’m sorry y’all din’t get a weekend post, but sometimes my life gets in the way of what I love to do. But it’s all good because I am very excited to share this Monday Motivation with y’all.

Recently I have had several friends talking to me about how they were reading Ecclesiastes in the Bible. Then I was looking into verses about God’s heart and if He wants us to enjoy life or is it all sacrifice and burdensome. Several resources pointed me to Ecclesiastes. Today, I decided to dig in. And wow, I’ve read this book before, but it didn’t click. It clicked today!

The first verse that stood out to me was Ecc. 2:10 & 11 “Anything I wanted, I would take. I denied myself no pleasure. I even found great pleasure in hard work, a reward for all my labors. But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless—like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere.” (NLT) The author explains that no “worldly” thing he tried to find happiness in, brought him happiness. He goes on to talk about how life seems the same day after day and year after year. Nothing seems to have meaning.

Then in Ecc 2: 24 the author’s perspective changes. He comments, “So I decided there is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink and to find satisfaction in work. Then I realized that these pleasures are from the hand of God. For who can eat or enjoy anything apart from him?” Ecclesiastes 2:24-25 (NLT) When he realizes that all these things are from God, his tone and attitude changes. Even in Ecc 3:12 & 13 he make the statement, “So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God. Ecclesiastes 3:12-13 (NLT)

On this Monday, when you might be siting at your desk in front of a computer screen just counting down the hours until you go home, eat dinner, go to bed, and do it all over again; I encourage you to ask yourself, How is your attitude? Do you see your job, your life, every day as a gift? Yes, this life can be hard, and maybe you’re at a job with an unfair boss or co-workers who make things difficult for you, but God has given you that job. He has put you there for a reason. He wants us to enjoy the life He has given us. He wants us to be thankful and be joyful even in trials.

Will you choose to enjoy life? Will you choose to be thankful for what God has given you? Will you choose to ask God to help you be present throughout your life? He doesn’t want you wishing the days away. He wants you to walk through all of life, even the difficult things, with joy and hope. Because, it is all part of this life He has given us. So find joy in the mundane. Find thankfulness in the trials. Find hope and meaning through Christ who is with you every moment.

Be thankful for new weeks. And yes, be thankful even for Mondays!