Devotionary

All those who call themselves Christians share a common belief in the eventual return of Jesus Christ. It is most often referred to as His second coming in order to distinguish it from His incarnation, when He came to earth the first time, in the form of a baby and born to a virgin named Mary. The four Gospels provide us with the details concerning Jesus’ first arrival on planet earth. But it is the book of Revelation that provides us with the still future aspects of His second coming. And in Revelation 1:4-8. John reveals to the seven churches to whom his letter was addressed, that Jesus was going to come again, on the clouds, and every eye will see Him, including those who pierced Him, a reference to the Jewish people who had demanded His crucifixion and death. While the book of Revelation will dedicate just a few chapters to the return of Jesus to earth, its entire contents is designed to preface its eventual occurrence. There will be much that must take place on the earth before Jesus can come back. But w

Today we begin a new study in the book of Revelation. Yes, for the next few months we are going to be working our way through this fascinating and often controversial book. There are those who avoid it like the plague, intimidated by all its strange visions and difficult-to-understand symbols. There are others who gravitate to it like it a puzzle book full of seemingly indecipherable clues and riddles they need to solve. But one of the things we have to keep in mind is that the book of Revelation is one of 66 books in the Bible. It is not intended to stand alone, and as we dig into it, we are going to discover that the answers to its many secrets are to be found in the pages of Scripture. Revelation is the last book in the Canon of Scripture and it provides us with a detailed vision of the things yet to come. There is much in the book that remains a mystery, even after centuries of study and debate. And while we may never know, this side of Christ’s return, what each and every sign, symbol, vision and message

We are at the end of Solomon’s book. And it leaves him near the end of his own life. But he has left us with much to think about and a great deal of wisdom to consider. And at the close of his book, he uses the phrase, “The end of the matter.” It’s his conclusion or summary to all he has written in his book. And what was the end of the matter according to Solomon: Fear God and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of man. That’s it. After all he has shared, this is what it all boils down to. A healthy reverence for God and a willing obedience to His will for your life. But as we will see, Solomon was still thinking in terms of earthly rewards and temporal blessings. He was advocating fear of and obedience to God because those things were necessary if you wanted to experience the blessings of God – in this life. What we are going to see in Ecclesiastes 12:9-14 is that Solomon still had a rather limited understanding of how God works. He couldn’t help but think that this life was the one in which the

There is one irrefutable fact about life: It ends in death. And, in his old age, Solomon was keenly aware of that painful reality. The older he got, the closer he came to the end. And old age has a way of causing us to reminisce about the way things used to be or could have been. In Ecclesiastes 12:1-8, Solomon continues to address his words to young people. He wants them to know what he has learned from his years of life lived under the sun. He is a man who has accomplished much but is in the final stages of his life’s journey. And while he has little to look forward to, he has much to look back on and he wants those he leaves behind to learn from his mistakes. He wants them to understand that one day they will be where he is. They too will one day face death. They will be forced to experience the effects of the aging process, as their physical capacities and mental faculties slowly diminish. So, what advice does Solomon have to offer those whom will be leaving behind? Remember your Creator. And do it while

There’s a popular saying among Christians that states, “Don’t be so heavenly minded that you’re no earthly good.” The basic gist behind what it means is that we can spend so much time thinking about and waiting for heaven, that we end up doing nothing of value and significance in this life. And while that saying has a grain of truth in it, I fear that far too many Christians have taken it to heart and made it their life’s mantra. And, as a result, they have become so earthly-minded that heaven has become an afterthought. But the apostle Paul warned the Colossian believers, “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” Being heavenly minded doesn’t require that we sit around dreaming about and waiting on eternity. It means that we live our lives with an understanding that this is not all there is. Our reward is waiting for us in the future. And in Ecclesiaste

Faith versus fear. That’s a choice all of us face in this life, on a daily basis. As Christians, it can be so easy to verbally express our faith in God, all the while living with doubts that He can or will come through for us in the end. And the end is a big question mark for many of us. And by end, I mean the end of life. Death looms like a dark cloud on the horizon, and we wonder what it holds in store for us. In spite of all the promises in Scripture and the assurances given to us by Jesus Himself, we can still find ourselves doubting the reality of heaven and struggling with understanding just what eternal life really means. So, as a result, we end up concentrating all our time and attention on this life. Which is something Solomon would highly recommend. In fact, in Ecclesiastes 11:1-16, he will go out of his way to encourage a live-for-the-moment kind of attitude. For Solomon, the one thing we can know for certain is that this life exists and it can be full of joy and sorrow, good and bad, blessings and

In the first seven verses of Ecclesiastes 10, Solomon addressed the inherent weaknesses with wisdom. But now, in verses 8-20, he provides us with ample proof of wisdom’s worthiness. It’s a good thing. And if anybody could speak as an authority in wisdom, it was Solomon, the wisest man who has ever lived. He had a lot of experience with wisdom. And over his long life, he had used and abused it. He had experienced its many benefits and suffered the consequences of relying on wisdom without relying on the one who gives it: God. In these verses, Solomon will change writing styles, delivering his message in the style we normally associate with his other book, Proverbs. He’ll deal with wisdom as it relates to work and then he’ll apply the proper association between wisdom and the tongue. Let’s face it, just about all of us have to work for a living, so a great deal of our life is spent in an arena where wisdom is desperately needed, but often in short supply. And every one of us knows what it’s like to struggle wit

Solomon had a lot to say about wisdom. On the pages of his two books, Ecclesiastes and Proverbs, he promotes the positive attributes of wisdom repeatedly. But as a wise man himself, Solomon had learned the sobering lesson that wisdom alone was not enough. Even wise people suffer. They can even make dumb mistakes. Wisdom is not an anecdote to life’s problems or some kind of get-out-of-jail-free card that guarantees a success. And in Ecclesiastes 10, Solomon is going to sing wisdom’s praises, while exposing its weaknesses. In the first seven verses of the chapter, he uses some interesting comparisons in order to warn against the weakness of wisdom. By itself, it proves to be an insufficient resource for understanding life, let alone for navigating the ups and downs that life can throw at us. Underlying his thoughts in this chapter is the premise with which he opened this book. He stated, “I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind.” I

Time and chance. These were two commodities that Solomon believed drove the affairs of life. And both were in the hands of God. Time was something God doled out to the human race and, according to Solomon, it was in some kind of arbitrary and unexpected way. Nobody knew how much time they were allotted by God. It was impossible to know your death date. And to a certain degree, this made life seem like it was all up to chance. In Ecclesiastes 9:7-18, Solomon explores the futility found in a world dominated by time, which slips through your fingers like sand, and chance, which tends to leave your fate up in the air and the future, uncertain. As he has stated before, Solomon recommends a life focused on eating, drinking and merriment. In other words, a life of uninhibited pleasure-seeking, where you make the most of whatever time you have on this earth. And you should do it before chance steps in to rob you of the opportunity. Not exactly a glass-half-full kind of outlook on life. For Solomon, life was full of u

Back in chapter 3 of his book Solomon made the wise and perceptive pronouncement that God “has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end.” He was right. God has put a longing for eternity in the hearts of all men, but in our current fallen state, we have a difficult time comprehending what that might look like. We are stuck in the here-and-now, unable to see beyond the grave. What little we know about life after death, we find in the Word of God. But much of what we have heard is nothing more than the blind conjecture of men. No one knows. And so, Solomon, unable to see beyond the grave, puts all his emphasis on the present. But as usual, he misses the point. He fails to comprehend what God has placed in the hearts of all men: The reality that there is an eternity awaiting each and every one of us. Because God is the god of eternity. And we are eternal creatures whom He has made. Solomon had no problem discerning the divine power of

Is it wrong to enjoy life? Does God frown on those who find pleasure in the things this life has to offer? The obvious answer is, “No.” And Solomon would fully concur. In Ecclesiastes 8:9-17, Solomon continues his discussion of life lived under the sun, giving his seasoned outlook on life.   In fact, because he sometimes saw life as meaningless and full of injustice and inequities, he repeatedly advised that we should make the most out of what we have while we’re here. In his words, “Eat, drink and be joyful.” Life can be difficult, so Solomon concluded that finding pleasure in this life was a worthwhile endeavor. When you look around and see that the wicked seem to prosper, while the righteous suffer, you can lose your motivation. It all becomes a seeming effort in futility. Which is why Solomon advised that you look for those things that bring joy to your life and make them a high priority. For him, eating and drinking were symbolic of man’s basic needs. Food and wine were necessities. One provided nourishm

Wisdom is a wonderful thing. And Solomon would be the first to agree with that statement. He admired wisdom. He depended upon wisdom in order to rule his kingdom. And he spent years trying to acquire more wisdom. He had an insatiable desire for it, just like he did for gold, silver, power, property, and pleasure. He had filled an entire book with simple, yet profound maxims regarding the need for wisdom in life. But as he drew closer to the end of his life, Solomon showed an increasing propensity to treat wisdom like just another possession. And what he seems to have forgotten was where his wisdom had come from in the first place: God. His wisdom was not self-made, but God-given. And while he had added to his wisdom over the years and increased his knowledge base, he had lost the one thing necessary to give wisdom its power and potential: The fear of God. He lost his reverence and respect for God. Unlike his father, David, Solomon tended to view God as a resource provider, rather than a relationship to be pur

Extremism. That’s a dirty word these days, because we’ve have been trained to fear extremists of all kinds, including religious and political extremists. They’re regularly portrayed as dangerous and potentially deadly. And Solomon would tend to agree. In Ecclesiastes 7:15-29, he’s going to warn against extremism, but not some external kind of radicalism and polarizing political posturing. No, he’s going to warn against going to personal extremes in the daily affairs of life. And, as usual, Solomon spoke as a seasoned expert on the topic. He starts out claiming that, in his long life, he had seen it all. In fact, he had tried it all. He had seen the religious zealot who spent his entire life pursuing righteousness, only to die at the end of his life – just like the wicked man who had made his pursuit of wickedness his full-time passion. And yet, the wicked man lived longer than the righteous one. In these verses, Solomon seems to be advocating a life of balance, rather than extremes. He warns against not being

Most of us think we know what makes life good. We have our own view of what is necessary to enjoy our days on this planet. For some of us, it’s the company of good friends. For others, it’s the pleasure of good food. Or the sense of accomplishment from a job well done. Or the thrill and excitement of a risk taken or a fear, overcome. There are some who never seem to find satisfaction in this life because they can’t ever get enough of whatever it is they think they need. So, they spend all their time pursuing and accruing, in the hopes of finding that magic amount that will bring them true satisfaction. Life can become a quest to find what is preferable and to avoid what is not. And in Ecclesiastes 7:1-14, Solomon is going to throw us a curve ball, surprising us with his assessment of what is really better in this life. He will take some fairly recognizable aspects of life and contrast them with one another, revealing that what we believe to be the better of two opposing alternatives is actually the one to be

God is to be the source of all joy, contentment, satisfaction and meaning in life. But think about how seldom that seems to be the case on your own life. If we were honest, and Solomon was, we would have to admit that there are times when we think God owes us a comfortable, enjoyable life, filled with all the things we deem necessary for finding contentment. And when we don’t get them, we feel a bit cheated by God. When we observe others, who seem to have all that their hearts could want and all our hearts would ever envy, we get confused and even upset. We wonder why God is holding out on us. And without knowing it, we reveal that we suffer from the same problem Solomon had. He thought God was the giver of all good things, and he was right. But where he missed the mark was in thinking that the good things were the point. For Solomon, God was the giver, but he never seemed to recognize that God was actually the gift. God gives us life, so that we might enjoy Him. He provides us with food, so that we might hav

They say money can’t buy happiness. But Solomon would add that money can’t purchase contentment either. And nobody knew that fact better than Solomon. He was wealthy beyond belief and surrounded by every imaginable luxury and convenience that money could buy. He had slaves and servants, singers and musicians, palaces and vineyards, the latest chariot model and the finest food cooked by the world’s greatest chefs. But he was deficient in contentment. In Ecclesiastes 5:8-20, Solomon continues to share his time-tested proverbs, hoping to shed some light on the grievous evil he has seen under the sun. The gap between wealth and poverty was narrow and the potential for material goods to bring spiritual well-being was negligible. Solomon had first-hand experience with the failure of self-gratification to provide any hope of true satisfaction. It never worked. He had learned the hard way that the more you owned, the more it tended to own you. Wealth comes with baggage. Like golden handcuffs, materialism may look att

Promises. We all make them. And the sad truth is, we all end up breaking them. In this section of his book, Solomon is going to go into proverb-mode, something with which he was very familiar. He was a collector of proverbs – wise sayings that provide deep truths in a simple, easy-to-understand format. He filled an entire book with them. And in Ecclesiastes 5:1-7, he is going to provide some timely truths learned along the way that had special meaning and significance to him. They all have to do with a man’s relationship with God. While, at this point in his life, Solomon had veered off course and abandoned his relationship with God, he still had a healthy fear of God. He knew better than to treat God with disrespect. Of course, he had placed idols to false gods all over the kingdom, but in his old age, he seems to realize that he had made a drastic error in judgment. He could look back over his long life and see the many times he had rushed into God’s presence, offering his sacrifice, while neglecting to off

Solomon knew what it was like to have fame and fortune. He was a powerful and wealthy king, ruling over a kingdom of adoring subjects and enjoying all the perks that came with his high position. Yet, in Ecclesiastes 4:1-16, Solomon opens up and shares some intimate insights into his life. All is not well. His power is matched by his overpowering loneliness. His great wealth is contrasted his poverty of true friends and close relationships. His renowned wisdom has not kept him from becoming a man who no longer knows how to take advice from others. He is at the top of the world, but isolated and alone. These verses provide us with an autobiographical sketch of Solomon the king, designed to teach us some valuable life lessons learned the hard way. Too often, we think the answer to all our problems is more power, possessions or popularity. We buy into the lie that more money will bring happiness. We take the bait that lures us into believing the more “likes” we have on Facebook, the more friends we have. We allow

In Ecclesiastes 3:16-22, Solomon continues his diatribe against the injustices of life, communicating his distress over the topsy-turvy nature of the world, where righteousness and justice get replaced by wickedness and oppression. From his perspective, man was no better off than the animals, because both end their lives in death. And as far as Solomon could tell, there was no guarantee that man ended up any place different after death than any other creature created by God. In fact, he flatly states that man has no advantage over the animals. He may get to enjoy the benefits of his manhood while on this planet, but once death comes calling, a dead man is no better off than a dead dog. But one of the things we have to keep reminding ourselves about is that Solomon was a man who had lost touch with his God. He had proven unfaithful to God. And while his life was filled with all kinds of material possessions and pleasures, he was missing the one thing he needed most: A healthy and vibrant relationship with God.

We are temporal creatures. We live, bound by the restrictions of time and space, measuring our lives in terms of minutes, hours, years and decades. We know our date of birth and while we may not know the day of our death, we have no doubt it is coming. Our five sense dominate our perspective on life. What we can see, taste, smell, hear, and touch becomes the measurement of reality. The invisible becomes essentially unknowable and, therefore, little more than speculation and a waste of our time. And, as we will see in Ecclesiastes 3:1-5, that word time was important to Solomon. In his old age, he was well aware that he was running out of time. His days were numbered. And he had no idea what lay beyond death’s door, so he couldn’t help but reminisce about all the days he had wasted and the dwindling number of days that lie ahead. When you view life as nothing more than an existence that has a start date and an end date, it shouldn’t be a surprise if your outlook becomes a bit jaded over time. Solomon couldn’t h