Bible League: Living His Word “Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!”— Ecclesiastes 1:2 NLT Ecclesiastes is a book from King Solomon in his wiser old age telling the account of wrestling and struggling with the problems of life. H.G. Wells describes the book as a reflection of “man’s mind at the end of its tether.” The book is like a guide to deal with the storms of life while barely clinging to one’s faith. Solomon rightly concludes in his struggles that faith is the only thing, and all would be hopeless without God. The book begins with a despairing cry over life, “everything is meaningless”. All effort, all existence, all accomplishments are one long monotony of work, eating, and sleeping, day after day after day after day. For Solomon, his monotony of life consisted of tasting and experiencing all the sinful pleasures the world can offer, and partaking of them all in abundance. There was no satisfaction, all was futile. Hopelessness even with all the luxuries and pleasures of life, a hopelessness without God. Think of your things in life. A new house, or a new car. For our family, a new car is a new “used” car and it is so amazing when first purchased. But after time, it is a car, and it just becomes part of our daily life. For a Godly person, there is thankfulness for cars, and houses, and things; but as Solomon is declaring, there is no hope in the materialism of life. There is no hope in sensual treasures of the world. There is no hope in money, power, or possessions of this world and no joy of gratefulness in such things if there is not God in your life. King Solomon experienced all the world had to offer and none of it provided lasting happiness. In the end, his assessment was that it only made one miserable. However, the wise King discovered with life experience that there is hope when there is a true and living relationship with God. Such is eternal happiness that one can live in. Such hope takes the monotony and mundane of everyday life, and turns it into joy unspeakable in our love and service to God. So remember and reflect, beloved in Christ. When feeling down and despaired, take a look at your life and assess where God is involved in your daily activities of life. If you have fallen, it is time to pick yourself up. Time to remember where you came from and who you are in Christ. Time to lay your life down upon the foundation of your faith. It is time to live your faith again. Living faith needs to be reconstructed in our hearts from time to time, so one can see clearly and engage their daily lives in a living hope. Not in a false hope found in the things of the world. “There is hope only for the living. As they say, ‘It’s better to be a live dog than a dead lion!’” (Ecclesiastes 9:4). As long as there is life, there is hope. Hope in God. By Pastor David Massie, Bible League International staff, California U.S. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingLeviticus 10, 11, 12 Leviticus 10 -- The Sin and Death of Nadab and Abihu NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Leviticus 11 -- Laws of Clean and Unclean Food NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Leviticus 12 -- Purification after Childbirth NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Matthew 26:1-19 Matthew 26 -- Plot to Kill Jesus; Jesus Anointed at Bethany; Last Supper; Judas' Betrayal; Jesus before Caiaphas; Peter Disowns Jesus NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion I will bless the LORD who guides me;even at night my heart instructs me. I know the LORD is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. Insight It is human nature to make our own plans and then ask God to bless them. Instead, we should seek God's will first. Challenge By constantly thinking about the Lord and his way of living, we will gain insights that will help us make right decisions and live the way God desires. Communicating with God allows him to counsel us and give us wisdom. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Isaiah 44:22 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.Attentively observe the instructive similitude: our sins are like a cloud. As clouds are of many shapes and shades, so are our transgressions. As clouds obscure the light of the sun, and darken the landscape beneath, so do our sins hide from us the light of Jehovah's face, and cause us to sit in the shadow of death. They are earth-born things, and rise from the miry places of our nature; and when so collected that their measure is full, they threaten us with storm and tempest. Alas! that, unlike clouds, our sins yield us no genial showers, but rather threaten to deluge us with a fiery flood of destruction. O ye black clouds of sin, how can it be fair weather with our souls while ye remain? Let our joyful eye dwell upon the notable act of divine mercy--"blotting out." God himself appears upon the scene, and in divine benignity, instead of manifesting his anger, reveals his grace: he at once and forever effectually removes the mischief, not by blowing away the cloud, but by blotting it out from existence once for all. Against the justified man no sin remains, the great transaction of the cross has eternally removed his transgressions from him. On Calvary's summit the great deed, by which the sin of all the chosen was forever put away, was completely and effectually performed. Practically let us obey the gracious command, "return unto me." Why should pardoned sinners live at a distance from their God? If we have been forgiven all our sins, let no legal fear withhold us from the boldest access to our Lord. Let backslidings be bemoaned, but let us not persevere in them. To the greatest possible nearness of communion with the Lord, let us, in the power of the Holy Spirit, strive mightily to return. O Lord, this night restore us! Daily Light on the Daily Path Psalm 78:20 "Behold, He struck the rock so that waters gushed out, And streams were overflowing; Can He give bread also? Will He provide meat for His people?"1 Corinthians 10:1-4 For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; • and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; • and all ate the same spiritual food; • and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ. John 19:34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. Isaiah 53:5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. John 5:40 and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. Jeremiah 2:13 "For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, The fountain of living waters, To hew for themselves cisterns, Broken cisterns That can hold no water. John 7:37 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Revelation 22:17 The Spirit and the bride say, "Come." And let the one who hears say, "Come." And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost. New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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