Gems of Knowledge

Today’s One Year Bible Verses: Ecclesiastes 1:1–3:22; 2 Corinthians 6:1–13; Psalm 46:1–11; Proverbs 22:15

“To be or not to be. That is the question.” —Shakespeare. Today we begin the book of Ecclesiastes, written by King Solomon, and what an incredible contrast we see between Solomon and the apostle Paul!

Solomon was the wisest and richest king ever to live. “I denied myself no pleasure… I even found great pleasure in hard work,” he says—“I had everything a man could desire.” (Ecclesiastes 2:10, NLT) Yet he finds no lasting joy and *“came to hate life because everything done under the sun is so troubling. Everything is meaningless—like chasing the wind.” (Ecclesiastes 2:17; 1:14, NLT) He devoted himself “to search for understanding and to explore by wisdom everything being done under the sun,” (Ecclesiastes 1:13, NLT) but he did not seek God’s mysteries. He searched the world, not the Lord.

Paul, on the other hand, sought God and His will in everything he did. He received God’s marvelous gift of redemption and the Holy Spirit. He rooted himself in God:
“In everything we do, we show that we are true ministers of God… We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love… our hearts ache, but we always have joy… We have nothing, and yet we have everything.” (2 Corinthians 6:4–10, NLT)

Wow! What a difference God makes. He changes our hearts and our minds. He fills the void the world cannot. He is everything good. We get to choose who and what we will be. We get to choose God—or not. We get to choose if we will “be” God’s people—content and joyful, or “not be”. So let us choose to be like Paul, and like David today in Psalm 46, and “Come, see the glorious works of the Lord.” (Psalm 46:8, NLT) Amen! 😍❤️😍

Action (5 minutes)

Under the Sun → Under the Son:
Write two columns: “Chasing the Wind” and “Rooted in God.” Put one current pursuit in each column. Pray Psalm 46:10 (“Be still, and know…”) and ask the Spirit for one shift today from the left column to the right. Do that step before day’s end.

Short Prayer

Father, deliver me from chasing the wind. Root me in Your Son and fill me with the joy that endures in every season. Let me see—and share—Your glorious works today. Amen.

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