11 Thursday Jul 2013
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In today’s reading, Ecclesiastes 10:15 actually made me laugh, The toil of fools wearies them; they do not know the way to town. Fools become weary from doing what is inherently simple and right to a normal person. I always wonder why criminals spend so much energy to live evil lives when they could spend half the energy just getting a normal job and making an honest living. If we simply spend our time doing the right things we will not be as wearied through our efforts.
10 Wednesday Jul 2013
Posted in Daily Reading
Today we start reading in the book of 1 Chronicles, which from a chronological order, mirrors 2 Samuel. By tradition, 1 and 2 Chronicles were written by the prophet Ezra. The main purpose of the book is to trace the Davidic line. Much of the information will seem familiar since we just finished reading through much of the same history.
In our reading in Ecclesiastes 9, verse 11 stood out to me today, I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all. It doesn’t matter whether you are swift, smart, or wealthy; we are all limited in time and having the right breaks in life to end up where God intended. In the end, we all end up exactly where God’s perfect plan meant for us to be.
09 Tuesday Jul 2013
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In today’s reading, the verse that stood out to me was Ecclesiastes 8:14, There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless. How many times have each of us witnessed a righteous person receive what the wicked deserves. Yet, God’s plan is perfect and we must trust in Him to know what is right. In the end, whatever the situation, in the big picture and as an individual situation it means nothing. Our reward is not here.
08 Monday Jul 2013
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I am still getting a lot out of reading the book of Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes 7:21-22 stood out to me today, 20 Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins. 21 Do not pay attention to every word people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you. We must never sit back and compare ourselves with other people sin-for-sin. It is easy to look at the sin in someone else’s life and make ourselves look righteous because we do not have the same issues. But in the end, no one is righteous. Our righteousness comes from sanctification we can not provide for ourselves. In Solomon’s day it came from the sacrificing of animals and offerings set by the law. Our sanctification comes from Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. Let us not forget that our efforts bring us no closer to righteousness than the oblivious acts of a fool who does not know Christ. Let us not take on the role of Christ in our lives by thinking we are good enough or that our efforts bring us closer to God; because they do not. Relationship is the only thing that brings us closer to God, nothing else. And distance from God comes from a lack of relationship with Him, not our sin.
07 Sunday Jul 2013
Posted in Reflection
We need to take time to stop and think. There is so much more to life than just going through the motions. This 15 minute video helped me realize I don’t always look at life through the proper lens. Hope you enjoy it.
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06 Saturday Jul 2013
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Today we begin the relatively short book of Amos. This book was written by the prophet Amos probably around the reigns of Jeroboam II of Israel and Uzziah of Judah (approximately 760-750 B.C.). Amos wrote this prophesy for Israel during a time of prosperity and peace which led the people into complacency where the rich oppressed the poor and even sold some of them into slavery. This book was a warning of what was to come because soon Israel would be conquered by Assyria and even the rich would become slaves. We, as Americans, must not grow complacent of the world around us. It is easy to feel as though the rest of the world is as blessed as we are, but the reality is the majority is not. Let us look to God for direction in how we can be used by Him in the lives of others. We can and should allow ourselves to help bless others and allow them to feel God’s presence and love.
Today’s reading in Ecclesiastes fits nicely with the theme of complacency in the book of Amos. Solomon describes how God gives some people blessings so they lack nothing their heart desires, yet they are not able to fully enjoy the blessing because they can not find meaning in their possessions. In the end, it all ends up in the same place. Ecclesiastes 6:5-6 Solomon compares a prosperous man who does not enjoy his blessings with a stillborn child, 5 Though it never saw the sun or knew anything, it has more rest than does that man — 6 even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place? God blesses us for OUR enjoyment. Let us not grow complacent and lose sight of the blessings He has given us. We all end up the same way, but when God blesses us, let us be content and thankful for the blessings He has given us during our short time here on this earth.
05 Friday Jul 2013
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In today’s reading, I don’t want anyone to think I am ignoring the last few chapters of Luke. They are some of the most important passages of our faith. But since we started reading the book of Ecclesiastes, I have really enjoyed it. In chapter 5, verse 18 stood out to me, This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot. In other words, we must be content in all God has blessed us with; whether it is great or small. We must always have the right perspective in knowing all our possessions belong to God and it is a privilege to be stewards of it while we are here on earth. The notes in my Bible say it best “We must focus more on the Giver than the gift.”
04 Thursday Jul 2013
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There is so much information in today’s reading in Luke. The important things, and often overlooked, is the information Jesus gives about the future of Jerusalem in chapter 21. Some information that is interesting to me comes from Jesus’ comments in verses 5 and 6, 5 Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, 6 “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.” The temple the disciples are talking about is not the original temple built by Solomon. That temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in the seventh century B.C. This temple was built by Ezra in the sixth century. The temple was desecrated by the Seleucid Empire in the second century A.D., then reconsecrated soon after by the Maccabees. Herod the Great expanded the temple over a 46 year period into a beautiful structure. As Jesus said, the temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. by the Roman army in the Siege of Jerusalem. While the history is fascinating to me, the importance of it shows Jesus’ ability to speak with authority about the future. Jesus did this on several occasions and shows us the information He shared with us is accurate and can be trusted.
03 Wednesday Jul 2013
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I love the first eight verses of Ecclesiastes 3:
1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
These verses represent the importance of experiencing every season with God. The secret to perfect peace is understanding that God’s plan is perfect. We must learn to appreciate God’s perfect timing in all we do and to learn to not resent or doubt God’s perfect timing.
02 Tuesday Jul 2013
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At the end of our lives, no matter how great our accomplishments, we are all left to the same fate. I heard it once said this way, “None of us get out of this life alive.” In Ecclesiastes 2:15 Solomon says, Then I said to myself, “The fate of the fool will overtake me also. What then do I gain by being wise?” I said to myself, “This too is meaningless.” The only thing that matters in this life is the way we impact eternity and others. Everything else is fleeting and will matter very little once we are gone from this earth.
Daily Devotion 