Scripture: Ecclesiastes 1.  

OBSERVATION
(What is God saying here?)

Ecclesiastes 1:16-18 (NLT)

16 I said to myself, “Look, I am wiser than any of the kings who ruled in Jerusalem before me. I have greater wisdom and knowledge than any of them.”

17 So I set out to learn everything from wisdom to madness and folly. But I learned firsthand that pursuing all this is like chasing the wind.

18 The greater my wisdom, the greater my grief. To increase knowledge only increases sorrow.

APPLICATION
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my circumstances today?)

Solomon has been proclaimed the wisest person/king that ever existed, however we see in these verses that to pursue all human knowledge without also balancing that with the wisdom from God, results in unimproved happiness or joy. In fact in verse 18 Solomon indicated that it is a waste of time because he became unhappy. It is interesting to note that when human knowledge ignores God, it only highlights our problems because it can’t provide answers without God’s eternal perspective and solution. I thank God for His Word and for teaching me His perspective on things that I find so challenging. I am thankful that you are reading this devotional today, because this is evidence that you also are looking for God’s perspective on things in your life because you don’t have all the answers to the complexities of this life. Praise God that we have access to the One that created everything around us and He continues to manage it all, no matter how modern or complex it seems to get these days!

PRAYER
(With God’s help, what am I going to do differently today because He said it?)

Thank You Father for providing life itself, and equally as important, thank You for the confidence I can place in You every day to help me through each of life’s challenges. There are so many things that challenge me because of the unknown, but praise the mighty name of Jesus, You are in control of it all and the only One who knows what will result from each action. I am placing my hand in Yours again today, asking for the wisdom to handle the challenges that will come my way today, the wisdom to make wise decisions that could affect my future or the future of my employer or my family or my church. I want Your perfect will to be achieved through the decisions that I will make today and the attitude that I will display today. Please grant this, all for Your ultimate glory and honor. Thank You father!

 

àWords underlined may be a hyperlink to a song that God laid on my heart while sharing this devotional this morning. Click it and be blessed by the song, like I was when I listened to it! …… I would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
nuggetsfromgodsword@yahoo.com
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