Your Daily Walk
Think about the people in your school, office, or neighborhood, and select the three you would consider "Most Likely to Succeed." Now analyze what it is that caused you to select them over other possible candidates. Is it their money .,. intelligence ... position ... possessions?
if any Old Testament character was ever a candidate for success, Solomon was the one! Blessed with wisdom, wealth, status, power, and prestige, he had everything a man could want—or did he? Look at his evaluation of it all: "Pleasure ... is vanity ,,. laughter.,, is mad ... silver and gold ... wisdom ... the labor that I had labored to do ... all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun" (2:1-11).
A depressing picture? Perhaps. But don't miss verse 24. As Solomon sees the events and endeavors of life from God's perspective and the good things of life as gifts "from the hand of God," his life takes on meaning and purpose. Make a list of the good things you are enjoying today that come from the hand of God: health, employment, family, education, etc.
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Insight
Silver Threads Among the Cold —
One of the most moving passages in Ecclesiastes is the figurative description of the aging process (12:1-7). Realizing that the afflictions of age will catch up with everyone, the writer of Ecclesiastes counsels his audience: "Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not" 02:1). There's no better advice for anyone at any age!
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