I tried to marry my ex-wife, but she figured out I was only after my money.

-Author unknown

Solomon came to basically the same conclusion. He was frustrated because everything he undertook made him feel empty inside. Then he began to realize everything he accomplished in life could very well be left to an idiot. He called it vanity and grasping after the wind. The book of Ecclesiastes is full of that type of thing.

Ecclesiastes 1:2

“Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”

Ecclesiastes 1:14

I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind. 

Poor old Solomon was spiritually bankrupt because he tried to run the course of his life with only his own intellect at the controls.

How about you? Whom are you putting in charge of the program? Give it some careful consideration. Don’t live life like the smartest man in the world did.

Gary

“More often than not, those who constantly throw in the towel will be left standing next to a huge pile of laundry.”

― Christine E. Szymanski

Why do people seem to have a propensity to quit too soon? I don’t know because I’m not a psychiatrist, but I do know the Bible addresses the phenomenon.

Galatians 6:9 

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

Hebrews 12:1 

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

Give it some thought and hang in there.

Gary

Do you know anyone who is not carrying some regrets or guilt that he or she just can’t shake? No, you don’t have to get very close to anyone to discover that that person has these mental demons just like you. Philosopher Henry David Thoreau addressed those phenomena. “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation,” he wrote in his book Walden in 1854.

Be kind to people because they, like you, have a burden on their backs. If you can’t make it a little lighter, then just don’t add to the load.

Psalm 55:22 

Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never permit the righteous to be moved.

Galatians 6:2 

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Give it some thought.

Gary

Why do birds fly south in the winter?

It’s faster than walking!

Now that’s the simple explanation and easily understood. The long process of evolutionary history is much more complex and makes little sense to most people.

The Biblical answer is that the One who created them also programmed them in the migratory course of their existence here. These creatures know intuitively that their Creator has and will manage every aspect of their lives.

Matthew 6:26

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

Even a birdbrain knows about God’s provision. Do you?

Give it some thought.

Gary

Time may be a great healer, but it’s also a lousy beautician.

So much time and money are spent in an endeavor to keep the body in pristine condition. Time will catch up to you sooner or later. Let me offer a better and everlasting challenge.

1 Peter 3:3-4 

Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.

1 Samuel 16:7 

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

Try and be presentable, but more energy needs to be spent looking good before God.

Give it some thought.

Gary

I got a new pair of gloves today, but they’re both ‘lefts’ which, on the one hand, is great, but on the other, it’s just not right.

-Author unknown

Now speaking of right, that is something that concerns God and should bother us. Whatever we put ourselves into in this world should be right.

Ecclesiastes 10:2 

A wise man’s heart inclines him to the right, but a fool’s heart to the left.

2 Corinthians 6:7

by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,

I have to hand it to you, I think this devotional is about doing the right thing.

Give it some thought.

Gary

The fire season is coming up in Maine. Smokey the Bear will be out there warning people like he has for the past eighty years: Don’t play with matches; put out campfires and don’t throw out lit cigarettes. One thing not included in Smokey’s list is the tongue which has caused more damage than any fire.

James 3:5-6

Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.

Be careful with that thing between your teeth. Brought to you by Smokey who is always on the job.

Give it some careful consideration.

Gary