The Daily Fountain Daily Devotional of the Church Of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) 20 October 2021 – TOPIC: LESSONS FOR THE WISE
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TOPIC: LESSONS FOR THE WISE
READ: ECCLESIASTES 2:12-26 (NKJV)12. Then I turned myself to consider wisdom and madness and folly; For what [can] the man [do] who succeeds the king? — [Only] what he has already done.13. Then I saw that wisdom excels folly As light excels darkness.14. The wise man’s eyes [are] in his head, But the fool walks in darkness. Yet I myself perceived That the same event happens to them all.15. So I said in my heart, “As it happens to the fool, It also happens to me, And why was I then more wise?” Then I said in my heart, “This also [is] vanity.”16. For [there is] no more remembrance of the wise than of the fool forever, Since all that now [is] will be forgotten in the days to come. And how does a wise [man] die? As the fool!17. Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sun [was] distressing to me, for all [is] vanity and grasping for the wind.18. Then I hated all my labor in which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who will come after me.19. And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will rule over all my labor in which I toiled and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also [is] vanity.20. Therefore I turned my heart and despaired of all the labor in which I had toiled under the sun.21. For there is a man whose labor [is] with wisdom, knowledge, and skill; yet he must leave his heritage to a man who has not labored for it. This also [is] vanity and a great evil.22. For what has man for all his labor, and for the striving of his heart with which he has toiled under the sun?23. For all his days [are] sorrowful, and his work burdensome; even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.24. Nothing [is] better for a man [than] that he should eat and drink, and [that] his soul should enjoy good in his labor. This also, I saw, was from the hand of God.25. For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, more than I?26. For [God] gives wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who [is] good in His sight; but to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and collecting, that he may give to [him who is] good before God. This also [is] vanity and grasping for the wind.*THE MESSAGE:*In our passage today, the writer of Ecclesiastes continues to present to us the lessons from his personal experiences so we may be resolute in Christ the Wisdom of God:i. Wisdom overshadows foolishness as light overshadows darknessJesus is both the Wisdom of God and Light of the world.ii. The fool walks in darkness – Anybody without Christ walks and lives in darkness.iii. Labouring and toiling for worldly treasures should be minimised, those who did not labour with you may inherit all – Only our work in Christ is rewarding and secured.iv. The same thing happens to the poor and rich, the wise and fools alike, no remembrance of them and their labour – ends in vanity – Only those who keep their records in Christ are remembered forever: life without Christ is vanityv. Our labour and toil will one day be left behind, people we cannot imagine may inherit them – Jesus keeps all our treasures till eternityvi. The world is full of sorrow, burden, and restlessness. In Jesus alone you find true rest.vii. The best thing is for man to enjoy the fruits of his labour, and that is also determined by God – Therefore, to be godly successful, we must live in God.The above lessons demand that we think deeply about living our lives in Jesus Christ.*PRAYER:* We are in the world that is fast ending. Focusing on worldly treasures will only compound our problems. Let us retrace our route to eternal life through Jesus Christ
