Eat, drink and be merry! This is everyone’s... - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2025

Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease: eat, drink, and be merry!

Bring the fatted calf here, and kill it; and let us eat and be merry.
Luke 12:19; 15:23.

Eat, drink and be merry! This is everyone's wish. And God would dearly grant it to us. Both of today's verses express it, but in an entirely different context.

In the first instance a farmer was expecting a good harvest, but he had insufficient storage capacity for the grain. He therefore decided to demolish his barns and build bigger ones. After the harvest he would say, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease: eat, drink, and be merry." He thought he had then taken care of everything. Yet the farmer had overlooked two important aspects: his success could be shattered by a misfortune, and he had no guarantee that he would live for years to come. So God spoke to him: "Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?" The man had made his plans without consulting God. He thought only of life on earth, ignoring the question of eternity.

Our second verse describes a very different scene: a young man had self-confidently gone out into the world, only to learn the hard realities of life. Seeing his life ruined, he decided to return to his father. There he confessed: "Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son."

His father had already run out to meet him and accepted this sincere confession of his guilt. He welcomed the "lost" son back home and arranged a feast of joyful celebration. "Eating and being merry" in fellowship with God is not a doubtful passing pleasure, but true, living joy!

Today's reading: Job 31:1-40 · Acts 15:1-12