Eat, Drink, and Be Merry by Ray Ortlund

Eat, Drink, and Be Merry by Ray Ortlund

Surprising Wisdom for Living Well in a Broken World

Enjoying the human journey through this world can seem impossible. So much is going wrong in these dark days. And the daily personal demands never let up. Who has the time—much less the freedom of heart—to play, to laugh, to delight? What’s more, those following Christ can also feel duty-bound to live in sacrificial austerity.

But God’s strategy for wise living includes bold enjoyment. In fact, any “Christianity” that feels embarrassed about enjoying God’s good gifts dishonors him and leaves Christians with less to give their suffering world.

With a pastor’s heart, Ray Ortlund invites readers to embrace God’s strategy for facing reality and living well. Meditating on Ecclesiastes 11:9–10, Ortlund explains how following Christ here in this world is a nuanced mix of both suffering and happiness. Ecclesiastes is a gospel call to accept the suffering and to savor the happiness—and savor it boldly.

• Delivers a Gospel Call to Enjoyment: Pastor Ray Ortlund reminds readers that God not only allows us enjoyment but even commands it
• Wise Insights: Offers an extended meditation on Ecclesiastes 11:9–10, enriched with personal anecdotes and wisdom from Christians of the past
• Countercultural: Affirms the actual joys God has placed in everyday life, defying today’s cynical and sometimes hyperspiritual culture

Ray Ortlund is the president of Renewal Ministries, the pastor to pastors at Immanuel Church in Nashville, and a canon theologian with the Anglican Church in North America. He is the author of several books, including Marriage and the Mystery of the Gospel; The Death of Porn; and the Preaching the Word commentaries on Isaiah and Proverbs. He is also a contributor to the ESV Study Bible. Ray and his wife, Jani, have been married for fifty years.