Anglican Daily Fountain 6 November 2023 (Devotional Today)
Welcome to Today’s Daily Fountain Devotional of the Anglican Church of Nigeria. Daily Fountain is a daily reading devotional for all Anglicans and Non-Anglicans to read, study, share and discuss the Word of God on a daily basis.
TOPIC: VANITY UPON VANITY
TEXT: Ecclesiastes 1(KJV)
1:1. The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
1:2. Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.
1:3. What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?
1:4. One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.
1:5. The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose.
1:6. The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits.
1:7. All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.
1:8. All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
1:9. The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
1:10. Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.
1:11. There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.
1:12. I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.
1:13. And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith.
1:14. I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.
1:15. That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.
1:16. I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.
1:17. And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.
1:18. For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.
Anglican Daily Fountain 6th November 2023 STUDY:
King Solomon is generally believed to have authored the book of Ecclesiastes. This is also supported by the internal evidence of the book (vv.12-13). The main theme of the book is to present to the readers that nothing is worth living for, nothing is worth dying for. King Solomon enjoyed life to the fullest and had the best of everything, to the point of overflowing. He saw it all and had it all. His baffling conclusion is that what appears attractive and glamorous for which many people labour relentlessly is all vanity(vv. 2, 14-18).
Beloved, while we are supposed to do whatever our hands find to do with all sense of commitment, it is noteworthy that no height of pleasure should be counted good enough as the purpose for our existence. Jesus Christ admonishes that we should not labour for the perishable things in this world(John 6:27). Acquisition of money, attainment of positions and gathering of material possessions should not define our existence because they all are vanity. We must live for God’s pleasure and keep preparing for our eternal home (Rev. 4:11). God’s wisdom demands that we live each day as though it were the last. Our focus must be to please the Lord in every facet of our lives.
PRAYER: Father, give me grace to live for your pleasure, in Jesus name. Amen.
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