Monday Reading: Ecclesiastes 6 6
Key Verse: Ecclesiastes 6 6
6 Yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place?
Devotion:
The story of Job shows us just how down we can get about things when we think life is not going the way that it should, and Solomon certainly seemed to have a fair share of being down and dejected as well. So when he says that if we have not gained something from the time that we have lived then it should be the same as living many more times longer and still not obtaining anything from our lives. This is when people turn round and start counting all the physical and emotional things that they have or have not done – and if we are going to try to keep a count of those things then we may as well start out by saying that we have not achieved what we need to because that will probably be the conclusion we reach!
If we are going to compare what we have done with what others have done then we will always find fault in what we have not achieved because we always think that we should be able to do more than that which we have done. That is just the way that we think – we always have eyes bigger than our goals, or our dreams are so much higher than our lives. So it is little wonder then that people do get down about not being able to do all that they think they should be able to do…
What Solomon realised was that no matter what goals we aim for, no matter what we attain or do not get done, we are all going to end up in pretty much the same situation as those who have been able to do so many extraordinary things! We will die just the same as they die. The difference is going to be in our minds and what we think we should have done – and that is all it is going to be, in our minds. Yes it is going to be a very important thing for many people to be able to gain from life, but if we are only going to gain earthly things, then we are in for a bit of a shock when we find we lose it all when we die!
I hope that I have not made anyone feel down in the mouth about what they have or have not been able to do; instead I want you to think about things as they can be after we die, I want you to think about the glory that we shall see when we are set free from the world and all the earthly trappings we have grown to see. God is the One who is in control and He is the only One who can set our lives in ways that we cannot imagine. Let us then not be trapped by what we think we cannot do but instead look forward to what God can do for us when we trust in Him alone.
Points to Ponder:
Do you feel let down by life?
Are you leaning on your Saviours everlasting arms?
Sunday Reading: Ecclesiastes 6 1-4
Key Verse: Ecclesiastes 6 3
3 If a man beget an hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he.
Devotion:
Covetousness is one of those things that we all think we can avoid but something that creeps up and destroys so many people’s lives. It is something that is not tangible for some people to even imagine because they have never been placed in a position where they wanted something that much. These verses give us a way of thinking about things in a different way; take verse 2 which makes us think about being given all our desires only for them to be enjoyed by someone else instead of us. We don’t normally come up against things like that because when we do have a desire for something we tend to try to get our own way so that we can have what we do desire – in other words we try to get what we want by changing the circumstances or forcing the outcome.
It does not matter that we are able to obtain, receive or accept all the desires of our hearts without our souls being filled with good because we will still be wanting more. That is, sadly, one of the things we see in many people who do get many of their wishes come true – they start to want more because they begin to find out that what they wanted does not actually fulfil their desires. That is the difference between wanting things and needing things.
God is the one that knows what we do want, not just to make us happy but also to fulfil our needs. He is the one who knows what we do need in order for us to be happy but we are the ones who think we know. When we then reach out for the things that we think we need we get to find out whether they are what we need that hard way; through (sometimes) bitter experience.
God is the one who knows how we tick and what we require within our minds and spirits in order to be happy and fulfilled. If we seek what makes us happy in monetary terms or other physical ways then we are going to fall very short of gaining what we seek with our souls. The writer puts it well saying that if we seek things in vain be it through going after physical gain or other covetous paths we are going to find nothing but darkness instead of the light we seek. The problem is that others will see us reaching those physical goals and think that we are getting what we need rather than just what we seek – the two being very different!
Points to Ponder:
Do you seek your wants and desires?
Do you allow God to guide your desires?
Saturday Reading: Romans 12 1-2
Key Verse: Romans 12 2
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Devotion:
Knowing what we know, that Christ laid down His life for us on the cross and that He beat death and rose from the grave for us, we must surely settle our lives toward a certain future with Christ just as He has promised for us. He has demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt all that He was willing to do everything for us; should we not then be demonstrating that we trust in Him because of those promises and demonstrations?
Christ gave us His all; He was and is our single sacrifice that we need to bring us to an eternal life with Him in glory. What would you be willing to give for your life in eternity? That really should be a moot point because we don’t need to give anything as there is nothing that we can give that will ever measure up to all that Christ has done for us. It is no small request that we give our bodies as a living sacrifice because Christ has already given the ultimate sacrifice for us. There is therefore no need for us to aim at giving the ultimate sacrifice or we would be saying that Christ’s sacrifice was not good enough; but aiming at living our lives as a continual sacrifice to performing God’s will in our lives should be our aim.
In order to perform that task of living a life for God we must separate our lives from the world and all that it may offer us. God and His will must be our aim and our goal. He does not say that we are going to have an easy life when we do aim for His will to be performed so we do have to be constantly on the lookout. Every hour of every day we need to be vigilant for all that the evil one will throw at us through this world and in order to battle against that. When Jesus was tempted by him it was to God’s Word that He turned to fight off the evil one; we need to take on that mantle and use God’s Word as our ‘strengthener’ day by day as well. It is through reading God’s Word that we will renew our minds to continue that fight day by day.
As long as we are willing to aim toward God’s Will, He will be willing to continue guiding us and keeping us encouraged to fulfil the role that He has laid down before us. There is absolutely nothing wrong with doing God’s will because He is the only one who does know all that is best for us and all that we should be doing.
Points to Ponder:
Are you willing to do what is best for you?
Are you willing to do what is best by Christ?
Friday Reading: Colossian 3:1-4
Key Verse: Colossians 3 2
2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
Devotion:
As observed in the previous chapter we know that the Apostle recognised the fact that the local church knew that they were dead with Christ – in other words they knew that because of the death on the cross they were free from the death penalty due from their sins. So the apostle now reminds them that because of that knowledge of them being dead with Christ, they should now be free with Him because of the fact that Christ beat death and rose from the grave after His burial just as planned.
Because of that knowledge we, like them, have to look forward to things in the future and not look back at things from the past. Christ did not look back but rather looked forward to what was to come rather than what had been. We need to follow that example and look forward to what is ahead for us as well. Christ beat death and rose from the dead; because of that we know that we have beaten death because of His promise toward us. So we need to focus on our future with Christ in heaven and not to look backward or to our very short future here on earth. Yes we need to look to what we can do for Christ but we need to focus on what we are doing toward our heavenly rewards and life with Christ after our life here on earth.
We don’t need to spend our time trying to build up treasures on earth so that we can live a life of comfort on earth; what we need to be doing is trying to build towards a fruitful life with Christ in heaven throughout eternity. What use is building up qualities on earth that will only last until the time that Christ Himself calls us home? What use is an earthly treasure that cannot be taken with us to heaven?
Our love for Christ should be shown not just as a full and enjoyable life on earth but as a concerted effort in building up toward a life in heaven. What use is an example of living a good life on earth when we should be setting an example of living for our future in heaven? What good is setting an earthly example when we are trying to tell others about focusing on a heaven life of eternity with Christ? Our life should reflect the goals that we are aiming toward and not just an example of how we should live on earth. Our aim should not be to build up treasures that others can see but to aim for a life with Christ at the time of His calling and not when we want it to happen. We do not know when we shall be called to be with Him.
Points to Ponder:
Are you aiming at a good earthly life?
Or are you aiming at showing people that eternity is real?
Thursday Reading: Psalms 47 1-9
Key Verse: Psalms 47 7
7 For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding.
Devotion:
One of the surprising things that we find about God’s Word is that there are far more references to the all the people of this planet than we would normally think of. We often think that the Old Testament is all about the creation of the world and then the journey of the Israelites with God; but when we look at His Word we find that there are many references to the Gentiles (or the rest of us apart from the chosen people of Israel).
This Psalms starts of by tell us all (all ye people) that we do need to look to God but also that we need to continually praise Him for being our One True God! He is our Creator. He showed the world that He was in charge when He released the children of Israel out of Egypt and subdued all other people that they faced. Israel showed the world that they were weak and gave in to temptation just like the rest of us. But despite all of the failings of man throughout our short history on earth, we have a continual example from God of His unfailing support and love for us all, both Jew and Gentile.
Because of that continual display from God that He is not just a God that is Holy and Just but a God of love, we must surely continue to praise Him for all that He is and does for us. We need to lift up our praise because He is Lord of All. Far too often people forget that God is Lord of everything and not just the people that chose to believe in Him. Even if man choses for ignore God He still is God and still is very real!
It is wonderful to be able to be in the company of other bible believing Christians who praise our Lord like we do; we do get a whole lot of encouragement from being with such people. But when we are seemingly alone in our quest to follow Christ we should not forget to praise Him in all of our asking and requesting help from Him. The more we are seeking Christ the more we seem to ask of Him in order to be strengthened to fight that constant battle against temptation and the more often we do seem to forget to praise Him when we do get that strength to fight the good fight. We must never forget that it is God who delivers all of the time just as He has promised to. We must not forget that it is God who is God of all!
Points to Ponder:
Do you always say thank you?
Are you remembering to say thank you to God?