Text: Ecclesiastes 12:8-14
Memory Verse: “Remember now your creator in the days of your youth. Before the difficult days come and the years draw near when you say, ‘I have no pleasure in them’” (Ecclesiastes 12:1).
Ecclesiastes states powerfully and repeatedly that everything is vanity. The world is frequently confusing and frustrating to live in. This sometimes evokes a feeling of disappointment, worthlessness or futility. Thus, man gets no permanent satisfaction from the accumulation of material things (Ecclesiastes 5:10). On the contrary, eternity is permanent; it is time without end. Spending eternity with God is the hope of every Christian; it is associated with rewards and a state of happiness. Moving into an eternal existence with God is desirable and fills one with expectation. Consider Solomon, Israel’s king. God extended His grace to him and gave him tremendous wisdom (1 Kings 3:12,13). The choices Solomon made determined his lifestyle and the way he ended his life.
The parable of the rich man in Luke 16:19-26 shows the life of vanity lived by the rich man – he was so pompous and self-centered that he could not even spare the crumbs which Lazarus, the beggar craved. Yet in eternity, he discovered that all the wealth he had enjoyed on earth could not get him a drop of water which he craved.
Christians must aspire to put on bowels of mercies and kindness, live closely in the steps of Jesus (1 Peter 2:21), and make eternity valuable by doing the things that are pleasing to God.
Prayer Points:
1. Help me, Lord, to make wise choices in life.
2. May I realise how empty life can be without Jesus by my side.
