Rejoice, oh young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgement.
Ecclesiastes 11 : 9
Solomon gives the impression that he was a pretty lenient dad. The gist of this verse is "do whatever you like... but know God will judge you". Sadly his son Rehoboam turned out to be a fool, so it's not enough to have the wisest parent who's ever lived to set you up for life.
It's tempting to judge Solomon for how his son turned out. But I think we should consider his wisdom here. God as Father often seems to be lenient. He gives us free will, and often allows us to get into all sorts of trouble before he disciplines us and brings us back.
Solomon had the wisdom to know that he was not like the divine judge. Once his son had become a young man, there was only so much he could do to parent him. So he took on a fatherly, advisory role.
People sometimes make God out to be a cosmic killjoy. But his scripture here commands young people to enjoy themselves. All it does is add the essential clause that for all that we do in our pursuit of pleasure, we will be judged. Far better to find pleasure in God than in all the world has to offer.
"Heavenly Father, thank you that you give me license to enjoy myself, to go out and have a good time. But thank you too for warning me that whatever I do will be called into judgement. I praise you for Christ, in whom I will be declared righteous on the day of judgement. For your glory, amen".
