Reading your Bible for today May 17

May 17: Ecclesiastes 2:22-26

KJV Key Verse: Ecclesiastes 2:24
24 There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink , and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw , that it was from the hand of God.

Devotion:
Have you ever got to the stage where you have wondered why you are working at doing what you are doing. I used to get that a lot at school! But what I'm trying to think of is when you have been working at doing something which you have always thought you wanted to do – only to find out as the end draws closer, you don't really get any gain out of doing that.

Life seems to be full of surprises in this sort of area. Maybe you had thought working hard at being a good and faithful charity worker would make your life worthwhile. But as you continue to work in the charity you start to find out many are not in it for the actual charity but for themselves. Maybe you start to find out the things which the charity is doing are not helping the people you want to help. Maybe you find out the charity gives excellent short term help but lacks the follow up. No matter what line of work it is, we will always be able to find fault in it. (I am playing devil’s advocate here by picking on a charity because it is something most people will relate to.)

Solomon had everything. I mean, he had everything because he was king. And yet he could see the shortcomings of his own life. He could see the shortcomings of how he was living and also where his life was going. He tried to work at many things, but found he would always fall short of the goal which he would have liked to have reached.

Whilst we would strive to be able to leave as much as we could for our children, we would not strive to be able to leave as much for complete strangers who have no interest in what we do. Working so that others can come in and break up all the work we have done is not profitable to anyone. Working together with someone will ensure you will be able to have your work continue. But there is still no guarantee your work will continue after you leave. That is where we need a friend whom we can count on. If we want to make sure we do something which is going to be worthwhile and of continued benefit to others, then we have to aim at doing something which God would have us do. He will then make sure what we do does continue!

Points to Ponder:
What sort of things do you like to do?

How many of those things are what God would have you do?