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Topic: Not Vain After All
[DCLM Daily Manna 27 December 2019 Daily Devotional by Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi]
Text: Ecclesiastes 12:8-14
8 Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.
9 And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs.
10 The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth.
11 The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.
12 And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
Key Verse: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man” – (Ecclesiastes 12:13).
MESSAGE:
When a rich man excludes God from his life and embarks on a journey seeking only the pleasure, he cannot but conclude at the end of it all that it has been a futile search. He would learn, as King Solomon did, that when the Lord endows a person with enormous wealth, he needs to seek divine counsel on how not to allow the riches to transform into an idol that drowns one in a sea of vanities. Being blessed with such heavenly wisdom allows one to know that life is not about dependence on the emptiness of riches.
Solomon waded through an ocean of riches, swimming in a plenitude of resources that made him take a flight from considerations of eternal value. He was rooted to this world and its deceptive pleasures. He got anything he desired as long as it gave him excitement. He completed his quest for fun with the ultimate in polygamy.
But the joy Solomon looked for through riches and pleasure eluded him. Why? Life resting on itself or on the things of this ephemeral world for existence is meaningless and vain. Real life is about a connection to the Source of life. Living in true joy is about pleasing the Giver of life, not in pleasing oneself. Any venture that discards this view is doomed and bound to experience the tragic frustration.
Therefore, the book of Ecclesiastes concludes fittingly with the instruction that “the whole duty of man” is to “fear God, and keep his commandments”. Those who fear God and honour His laws will not go after pleasure but “seek… first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” That way, they will not end life being miserable and empty in the midst of plenty. They will see life as God’s possession to only hold in custody, not for carnal pleasure but for His use.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: All is not vanity for sincere Christians.
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Revelation 9-11
