The Daily Fountain Daily Devotional of the Church Of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) 15 September 2020 – TOPIC: LIFE IS GOOD: ONLY IN CHRIST

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TOPIC: LIFE IS GOOD: ONLY IN CHRIST

READ: ECCLESIASTES 1:1-11 (NKJV)1. The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.2. “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; “Vanity of vanities, all [is] vanity.”3. What profit has a man from all his labor In which he toils under the sun?4. [One] generation passes away, and [another] generation comes; But the earth abides forever.5. The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, And hastens to the place where it arose.6. The wind goes toward the south, And turns around to the north; The wind whirls about continually, And comes again on its circuit.7. All the rivers run into the sea, Yet the sea [is] not full; To the place from which the rivers come, There they return again.8. All things [are] full of labor; Man cannot express [it.] The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor the ear filled with hearing.9. That which has been [is] what will be, That which [is] done is what will be done, And [there is] nothing new under the sun.10. Is there anything of which it may be said, “See, this [is] new”? It has already been in ancient times before us.11. [There is] no remembrance of former [things,] Nor will there be any remembrance of [things] that are to come By [those] who will come after.*THE MESSAGE:*This book – Ecclesiastes – is a compendium of what Solomon the King of Israel discovered by the hand of the Lord about life. Most of the discoveries were through his personal life experiences (when he was in tune with the Lord, and when he backslid from Him). A common feature in the book is the denial of any profit or gain to a person’s labour. The term ‘gain’ is unique to Ecclesiastes. Generally, it refers to what is left over (a gain or a profit), after removing the principal invested in a business; or metaphorically, to what is advantageous or of benefit. Solomon affirmed at the outset that humans earn no essential advantage or profit from all their toil down here on the earth (this is what the phrase ‘under the sun’ means). He supported his opinion by referring to the ceaseless rounds of human generations through the temporal nature of a person’s existence (verses 4) and of nature (sun, moon and the sea) in constant motion but which never arrive at any fixed goal or lasting rest (verses 5-7). The above description by Solomon is of a life without Christ. Jesus says, ‘I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly’ (John 10:10). When one lives in Christ, everything becomes profitable to God and to the world around the person. Our lives in Christ glorify God, and bless humanity. Even the person would not have lived in vain because the Scriptures affirm, ‘Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labour is not in vain in the Lord’ (1 Corinthians 15:58). Life is ‘not in vain’ if it is lived according to the will of God, and that is what Solomon teaches today in the power of the Holy Spirit.*PRAYER:* Dear Lord, cause my life to be profitable to You, the people I come across today, my family, and myself in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen