Extracted from 'Our Daily Bread'
True Satisfaction
Reading and Meditation
I thought in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good." But that also proved to be meaningless. "Laughter," I said, "is foolish. And what does pleasure accomplish?" I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly -my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.
I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit tree in them. I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone is Jerusalem before me. I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired men and women singers, and a harem as well - the delights of the heart of man. I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.
I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
I refused my heart no pleasure.
My heart took delight in all my work,
and this was the reward for all my labor.
Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after wind;
nothing was gained under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 2:1-11)
The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing - Ecclesiastes 1:8)
A man stopped at a travel agency and said he wanted to go on a cruise. "Where to?" he was asked. "I don't know," was his reply. So the travel agent suggested that he take a look at a large globe that was in the room. He studied it for some time, then with a look of frustration he exclaimed. "Is this all you have to offer?"
The world in which we live has many things that appeal to us. Apart from what is sinful, we can and should enjoy its pleasures. A delicious meal graced with the good fellowship of friends warms our hearts. The beauties of nature inspire and fill us with wonder. Good music refreshes our souls. And work itself can be fulfilling.
Even in a sin-cursed world we can find great enjoyment. And yet these pursuits do not bring full and lasting satisfaction. In fact, people who live only for self-gratification, no matter how lofty their achievements, will always long for more. It makes no difference how deeply they drink from the wells of this world's pleasures. their thirst is still not satisfied. They must agree with Solomon that "all is vanity and grasping for wind" (Ecclesiastes 2:17).
Only by living for Jesus Christ do we experience true satisfaction. - Richard De Haan
True Satisfaction
Reading and Meditation
I thought in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good." But that also proved to be meaningless. "Laughter," I said, "is foolish. And what does pleasure accomplish?" I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly -my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.
I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit tree in them. I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone is Jerusalem before me. I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired men and women singers, and a harem as well - the delights of the heart of man. I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.
I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
I refused my heart no pleasure.
My heart took delight in all my work,
and this was the reward for all my labor.
Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after wind;
nothing was gained under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 2:1-11)
The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing - Ecclesiastes 1:8)
A man stopped at a travel agency and said he wanted to go on a cruise. "Where to?" he was asked. "I don't know," was his reply. So the travel agent suggested that he take a look at a large globe that was in the room. He studied it for some time, then with a look of frustration he exclaimed. "Is this all you have to offer?"
The world in which we live has many things that appeal to us. Apart from what is sinful, we can and should enjoy its pleasures. A delicious meal graced with the good fellowship of friends warms our hearts. The beauties of nature inspire and fill us with wonder. Good music refreshes our souls. And work itself can be fulfilling.
Even in a sin-cursed world we can find great enjoyment. And yet these pursuits do not bring full and lasting satisfaction. In fact, people who live only for self-gratification, no matter how lofty their achievements, will always long for more. It makes no difference how deeply they drink from the wells of this world's pleasures. their thirst is still not satisfied. They must agree with Solomon that "all is vanity and grasping for wind" (Ecclesiastes 2:17).
Only by living for Jesus Christ do we experience true satisfaction. - Richard De Haan
The world is filled with so much good
That brings us joy and pleasures,
But true fulfillment only comes
When Christ we love and treasure. - Sper
That brings us joy and pleasures,
But true fulfillment only comes
When Christ we love and treasure. - Sper
Putting Christ first brings satisfaction that lasts.
Extract from Every Day with Jesus written by Selwyn Hughes
Cheap forgiveness?
Reading and Meditation
Jesus said to his disciples: "Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. So watch yourselves.
"If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him."
The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!"
He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.
"Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'? Would he not rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you ma eat and drink'? Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ' We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.' " (Luke 17:1-10)
"If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him."
The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!"
He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.
"Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'? Would he not rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you ma eat and drink'? Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ' We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.' " (Luke 17:1-10)
Today we ask ourselves: What does our Lord's first cry from the cross - 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing' (Luke 23:34) - really mean? Some take a casual approach to the words and say Jesus was well know for His forgiving spirit and for His teaching on the subject of forgiveness, so on the cross He put His teaching into effect. The German poet Heinrich Heine famously said, 'Of course God will forgive me. That's His business.' Does our Lord's prayer for forgiveness mean that those who crucified Him were forgiven even if they did not repent?
If that is the meaning behind these words then they present us with a huge problem, for they would contradict every other teaching of the Scriptures. Take for example, the last words Christ spoke before His cry from the cross. They were addressed to the women of Jerusalem who were openly weeping for Him as He made His way towards Golgotha: 'Do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children' (Luke23:28). Christ then went on to prophesy that a great punishment would fall upon the citizens of Jerusalem because of the injustice being one to Him, and predicted that the day would come when the women would say,' Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!" (Luke23:29)
Did He then change His mind and reverse that prophecy in His first cry from the cross? Was our Lord offering cheap forgiveness - forgiveness without repentance? If He was, then He was contradicting the whole tenor of Scripture. And God always speaks, not with two voices, but one.
Lord Jesus Christ, even though it is not yet apparent why You said what You did, help me to learn the valuable lesson that I should always interpret the unclear in the light of the clear. May I never forget that. For Your own dear name's sake. Amen.
If that is the meaning behind these words then they present us with a huge problem, for they would contradict every other teaching of the Scriptures. Take for example, the last words Christ spoke before His cry from the cross. They were addressed to the women of Jerusalem who were openly weeping for Him as He made His way towards Golgotha: 'Do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children' (Luke23:28). Christ then went on to prophesy that a great punishment would fall upon the citizens of Jerusalem because of the injustice being one to Him, and predicted that the day would come when the women would say,' Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!" (Luke23:29)
Did He then change His mind and reverse that prophecy in His first cry from the cross? Was our Lord offering cheap forgiveness - forgiveness without repentance? If He was, then He was contradicting the whole tenor of Scripture. And God always speaks, not with two voices, but one.
Lord Jesus Christ, even though it is not yet apparent why You said what You did, help me to learn the valuable lesson that I should always interpret the unclear in the light of the clear. May I never forget that. For Your own dear name's sake. Amen.
