Thursday Reading: Ecclesiastes 6:1-2
Key Verse: Ecclesiastes 6:2
2 a man to whom God has given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he lacks nothing for his soul of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to eat of it, but a stranger eats it. This is vanity, and it is an evil disease.
Devotion:
What is the use of having something if you are not going to use it? I’m afraid that I am not a person who will buy something just so that it can be placed on the shelf or in a cabinet – when I buy something it has to be of some use otherwise by definition it is useless! I know there are people that will say that buying something as an investment is good business sense and that we should lay up various things for possible use later if required and there are a few things that I may do that with, but I am more in line with buying what I can use now rather than later.
We have various passages in our bibles that tell us that laying up treasures is not good sense because we do not know when we will go to be with the Lord. I had a dream this morning that I was in a car crash and the things that I had bought and kept were useless after that crash; instead I had to rely on what other people had despite my good intentions. We need to focus on the things that are going to be of use to us even after we have had our accident, downfalls or setbacks in life. The things of God are always going to remain firm and fresh and those are the things that God wants us to focus on in our lives.
Yes we are still going to have to spend money on all those things that we wish we would not have to but they are essentials for living. But God would rather have us focus on His treasures so that He can guide us to have the earthly essentials that we need rather than those we desire. If I were to follow my earthly desires then I should be in a whole lot of trouble not just with God but with others as well. I know that I am weak and that is why I tend to shy away from certain things in life – because I know that my strength is in God and He does not want me to focus on those things in my life any more. God continue to give me all sorts of things in my life but my focus has got to be on Him first of all – that way I know that the treasures I am building up will last through eternity and not be left behind for waste.
Points to Ponder:
What do you collect?
How do you rate God’s Word?
