Chapter 1
Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. Ecclesiastes 1:2 – As we step into a new book I wanted a verse to help us understand where we were going and this one takes the cake. The writer has seen the pointlessness of pursuing things other than God in this world. He also has a deep sympathy for others and wants to help them not fall prey to the temptations he’s faced. Keep this in mind as we read through this book. Outside of God we won’t find what our heart is desiring after. It’s all vanity, all worthless pursuits. The writer, and I as well, long for you to hear the fulfillment of all you are looking for in this life only comes from a closeness with Jesus. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 835
All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again. Ecclesiastes 1:7 – As we lean into this new book, understand this is coming from King Solomon, the wisest man to ever have lived and a king who was incredibly wealthy. He is speaking of his search for purpose and joy in all the things the world has. Here he speaks of the streams and the sea. This to refer back to us, we are the sea. When we allow the “streams” of the world to freely flow into our life we’ll notice they won’t fill us like we need. The stream of fame, money, a new relationship, and others will seem like it would fill us greatly, but in the end if that’s all we go for we’ll remain empty. The only thing that can pour into us and we find a true filling is Jesus. We can chase after so many things yet Jesus is the only one who can give us what we need. Be sure the stream that’s pouring into you can actually offer you what you truly need. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1657
All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. Ecclesiastes 1:8 – To explain this imagine searching for the right home for your family to live in. You look at dozens of houses but you aren’t satisfied with anything you see. None feel right, none have everything you want or need, none feel like they could be a home for you. This is the idea the writer is speaking of when he looks at all life has to offer in this world. Nothing satisfies, nothing gives him what he needs, nothing gives him the meaning he’s looking for. He looks and can’t find, listens but hears nothing useful. Outside of Jesus your eyes are going to search and not find what they are needing. It’s like needing new car and going to a butcher to find one. If you’re not going to Jesus, you won’t find what you need. For you are looking for true hope in life, purpose to your pain, a purpose to your life, peace, and forgiveness of your wrongs. Your eyes can look other places and your ears can listen to so many other voices, but the only One who can offer you want you need is Jesus. You have the freedom to continue searching, my hope though is you take the vanity of your pursuits so far as evidence that anything other than Jesus won’t offer you the fullness of what you need. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1991
Chapter 2
There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God. Ecclesiastes 2:24 – Outside of God there is nothing better for a person to go after than the pleasures of this world in this life. To seek the temporary comforts they give while he can. Because that’s all life and this world can give someone…..outside of God. When you include God the whole story changes. Joy can be found. Purpose can be found. Love can be found. All that our hearts and minds long for for eternity can be found. So yes, worldly things can give pleasure, but that’s the entirety of their help to you. What’s comes from God is what our lives are fueled on and what fills someone to an overflowing state. You must make a choice here, what are you going to seek after in this life. If all you want is worthless, temporary pleasure seek anything other than God. If you want the things that will fill the emptiness inside you seek out a deeper life with God. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 836
I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity. Ecclesiastes 2:1 – Many of us can relate to “testing pleasure.” Can we though say we’ve tested a life with Jesus? For those who have we know that’s where the true joy we need comes from. For those who haven’t, try Jesus for a change and find the change in your story you’re looking for. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac (shorter devotions this week due to being at camp, sorry!) – Daily DEVO 1658
Then I said in my heart, “What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart that this also is vanity. For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool! Ecclesiastes 2:15-16 – Both have the same ending. In our passage the writer comes to the conclusion that his chasing after wisdom really does end with a pointless pursuit. That while yes in life wisdom did offer benefits, at the end of his life whether he was the wisest person or the most foolish person didn’t matter, each still died. Keep this in mind as we chase after things today. The most wealthy will die like the most poor. The athlete will die like the spectator. The famous will die like the non-famous. All die, all face eternity with nothing from their life on earth…accept one thing. Did they choose to follow Jesus? That choice is the only thing they’re bringing with them. Today, that’s the only choice that matters for you. Have you chosen to follow Jesus? Sure, pursue wisdom, wealth, fame, I’m not trashing that…but have you chosen to follow Jesus first? Do you know if your life ended today and all that other stuff faded away like it eventually will that you’ll be walking into the beauty of Heaven instead of the gates of Hell? Please don’t let another day pass by without settling this and know I’m available to walk you through this decision as well. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1992
Chapter 3
I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man. Ecclesiastes 3:12-13 – We have another verse much like the one we covered yesterday in our passage today. This one though has a different direction it’s leading us. Yesterday it spoke on the pointlessness of life without God and there’s nothing better in this world than the temporary pleasures it gives. Here we have scripture speaking on the life of a follower of God. That there is nothing better for us to do than to be joyful and use our God given blessings to do good. We also have God saying He wants us to enjoy the blessings He gives us in this life. We have two verses saying much the same words but meaning different things. Pursue the world and take what pleasure you can because that’s all you’ll get or pursue God, find a purpose and way to use what you’ve been given, and freely enjoy the blessings of God without shame. See pursuing God isn’t the path that is absent of joy, it’s the path of following anything else that leaves you empty. Don’t be deceived by our enemy’s ways, this life with God is better than anything else out there. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 837
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 – Know God has a reason for the time you’re in right now. Maybe the time for you currently is one of those not so favorable ones spoken about. Know God has a plan for you in it, through it, and after it. Trust He also has a time planned for you past the current season you’re in. If He brought you into this time know He plans to walk with you through it too. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1659
For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity. All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return. Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth? Ecclesiastes 3:19-21 – Do we have here scripture pointing out to us that in life there is truly no difference between us and anything else on earth? That we die, animals die, trees dies, grasses die, and we all end up as dust with nothing to look forward to. Just a straight reading of this passage I can easily see where that way of thinking could come about, but we must remember the way of thinking the writer was in at this time. As a commentator put it, he was in his “under the sun thinking.” Meaning the writer in this moment had his eyes only on what was right in front of him, not focused on the beauty of God and the grander of what God has in store for those who believe in Him. Think a teenager who just got broken up with and they are saying “My life is over and there is no point to anything anymore!” Is that statement true? Of course not. Do they believe it? In that moment, yes, because their eyes are just focused on what was right in front of them, not the bigness of God in this situation. When your mind begins to be consumed with the pointlessnesses of this life and all you see is vanity like see being spoken about in this book, make sure you pause to think about and look deeply at the person of Jesus. Outside of Him is pointlessness, but in Him is the point of everything. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1993
Chapter 4
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. Ecclesiastes 4:9 – When we do what we do for more than just ourselves, this is when we can find real joy in what we do. Allow yourself, or better yet train yourself, to not make what you do be only about for you. You have special people in your life you can live for. You have a God in your story you can live for. What scripture is reminding us is that as we make our reasoning for what we do in this life be for more than just us, this is when we find the purpose and fulfillment we’re looking for in the things we do. So if you’re married think about doing your job so you can bless your spouse more and make them happy. If you’re a Christian think about doing all you do so you can bring glory to God. Make your life about something more than just you. When you do, all that you do suddenly has a much deeper reasoning behind it. Let’s step into that deeper reason and use our life for others and for God. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 838
Again, I saw vanity under the sun: one person who has no other, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his eyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks, “For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?” This also is vanity and an unhappy business. Ecclesiastes 4:7-8 – When I read this verse, my heart was caught up in thinking who am toiling for and “depriving” myself of sin for? May not be exactly what this passage is speaking on, but who am I trying to live a faithful witness for, one that is free of sinfulness and is pursuing Jesus? As I sit here at camp I can look at my students and say they would be some of those I’m toiling for. Brandi for sure. My future-daughter that we are in the process of adopting would be another big one. How about for you? Who are you toiling for? Sometimes having even just one name on your heart is all you need to keep saying no to the temptations and to keep striving after Jesus when it’s not easy. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1660
The fool folds his hands and eats his own flesh. Ecclesiastes 4:5 – That phrase “folds his hand” was their way of saying someone was lazy. Imagine someone putting their hands together to go to sleep or how when your hands are together it’s much more difficult to do any sort of work. We see here the end result is only your own pain and destruction. No good is going to come from eating your own flesh. No good is going to come from a life of laziness. As with our passage the fool decided because he was so envious of his neighbor’s stuff he’d just do nothing, and as you’d expect, nothing good came from that choice. Where then is laziness creeping in to your story? Where you have been blessed with the rest and time to do something God has called you to do, you just keep putting it off. Is it with your time reading God’s Word? Time spending with family? Is it with coming to church? Is it with truly using your gifts for others and God? How could you today be active again in these areas? God longs for the best for you, but the best can’t be received with folded hands. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1994
Chapter 5
As he came from his mother’s womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand. Ecclesiastes 5:15 – You never see a hearse pulling a U-haul. It’s an old saying, but man does it speak truth when we see this passage today. We can work and spend our life accumulating wealth and fame but we take none of that with us when we die. We come into this world empty handed and leave the same. If this is true, wouldn’t it make sense to invest in the things that will stay with you after you die? If you could have something precious to you for 80 years or for eternity which would you choose? So what lasts for eternity? Your relationship with God and your brothers and sisters in Christ. Not your Instagram follower amount or any record you break. God and people. Invest your life in things that will stay with you after this life. Pursue God deeply in life and share God’s love with everyone so they have a chance at spending eternity with you. Let’s not waste the shortest time of our life, this time on earth, investing in things that won’t last. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 839
Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. Ecclesiastes 5:1 – I love that phrase “guard your steps.” It implies that we can come into the house of God with unguarded steps. It means we can approach our time with God in ways that aren’t pleasing to Him. We can come to Him with a heart filled with apathy towards those around us. We can come wanting to be heard more than listening. We can come offering without first offering our heart. So how do you approach your time with God? Is it unguarded or do you care about your time with Him? Let’s seek to be more thoughtful about how we approach our time with Him. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1661
Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few. Ecclesiastes 5:2 – From a commentary I found, “When we come before God, our minds are full of our own business rather than the worship of God. When we talk too much, we usually talk like fools” (Wright). I feel like this is sadly me too often. I’ll even catch myself a few seconds into a prayer saying things that are just repeated phrases that I’m so used to saying in prayer and I’m not even aware of what I’m praying. Don’t take this verse, this quote, or this devotion as saying you’re talking too much to God. I doubt that’s a problem for any of us. Take it as saying be thoughtful about what you say. Whether you are saying a single word in prayer or investing your entire day to it, be thoughtful about the heart behind your conversation with God. Remembering that prayer is a means of worship and a means of giving space for God to also speak to us. God wants to hear about the happenings of your day and your needs of the moment, but also remember who you’re talking to. Yes He is your loving, Heavenly Father, but He also is the creator of the universe seated on the throne of Heaven being worshiped by multitudes of angels at this very moment. Make sure your heart is in the right place when you come to Him and be careful to not forget the worship aspect of your prayer life. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1995
Chapter 6
All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied. Ecclesiastes 6:7 – Desire is insatiable outside of God. This verse sums up so much of what we’ve read in this book. That sinful, worldly desires are impossible to satisfy. That no matter how much we give into them or how much we entertain them those desires keep asking for more from you. Yes, from you. They don’t give to you, they take instead. God is wanting us to be wiser than a person who lets their desires dictate their life. He wants us to enjoy life and not be in a state of constant dissatisfaction with it. That comes with finding joy and enjoying what is already present in our life from God. When we choose to enjoy what’s been given to us and not only long for what we don’t have, we find contentment. This is not meaning we can’t have dreams and goals, those are put there many times by God. It’s just a problem when we choose to disregard the beauty of today for the potential beauty of tomorrow. Learn to find joy in today so you can enjoy tomorrow to the fullest. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 840
For who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his vain life, which he passes like a shadow? For who can tell man what will be after him under the sun? Ecclesiastes 6:12 – This verse speaks on the struggle we have to know what to truly invest in within our story. We don’t know the future, we don’t know what’s going to happen in the world after we’re gone. What do we pour into now to make sure our life wasn’t pointless? People. We don’t know when our story will end nor what will the world look like once we’re gone. Maybe all our stuff will be sold of and taken by others or maybe it will get shoved into a box in the attic. What though will last is the ways we’ve loved on people and how we’ve poured into their life with Jesus. Do you want your life to end with a purpose fulfilled? Then speak of Jesus with every breathe you have. Let’s give God back the breathe He first gave us. Give it back full of praise and full of the message of life. This is how to make a life full of purpose. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1662
Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of the appetite: this also is vanity and a striving after wind. Ecclesiastes 6:9 – Often I find the seasons I’m most discontented is when my eyes are looking to the future and overlooking the blessing of what’s right in my hands. I dream of what my story could be, what I could have, and what’s not currently in my life. Yes, it’s fine to have dreams and hopes for the future, but where they can turn harmful is when they captivate your focus so much you stop looking at what you have in the present. You are currently existing in answered prayers and dreams you once longed for. For me, I prayed for a wife and I am so blessed with an amazing one. I prayed for my own home and today I get to go to it after work at the church. I prayed for the job I have and now I write this comfortably sitting in my office at church. We are living in answered prayers and blessings we didn’t even know to ask for. Don’t dismiss the wonder of what you have for the desire of what might come. God knows the desires of your heart, trust Him to bring into your story the things that will help you draw closer to Him the most. Seek a new found enjoyment of the blessings your are in today and trust the working of tomorrow with the only One who can actually make tomorrow happen. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1996
Chapter 7
For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fools; this also is vanity. Ecclesiastes 7:6 – I love a good campfire. I’ve also gotten pretty good over the years at perfecting a good campfire too. One thing you learn is something this passage refers to. You can throw a large bushel of thorny brush into fire and it will give off a big blaze, but it’s going to burn out super fast and it’s not going to give you the prolonged heat you need. The writer wants you to see the sinful pleasures of life like thorny bushes in a fire. Sure those pleasures will blaze strong for a moment, but the heat you need, the help and joy you need for life, isn’t going to be given by that quick blaze. You’re going to need some solid branches and logs tossed into that fire to keep the flames steady and strong. Be sure the fuel you’re putting into your fire of life is the things that will keep you going. Be sure that fuel is the things of God. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 841
Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others. Ecclesiastes 7:21-22 – I believe God knew I needed to hear this passage today. I’m finding myself leaning into an old mindset of worry and stress doing the thing scripture here says not to do. I’m listening to what people are saying, and listening to what the enemy is saying as well. If you’ve been there before, you know that can lead to a pretty dark space. So today, what I’m trying to remind myself and what I’ll lead you to do is to listen to what has already been spoken about you by the Lord who made you. You are seen, you are loved, and you are wanted. And so much more. Be careful to not take to heart everything other’s say yet be careful to hold close all that God speaks. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1663
Consider the work of God: who can make straight what he has made crooked. Ecclesiastes 7:13 – I feel like this passage is politely saying, “Remember who you’re talking to.” I’m not sure how you are viewing God today, but I know for myself this passage is humbling reminding me to see Him for who He really is. A quote I found while studying this passage says, “There is no standing before a lion, no hoisting up a sail in a tempest, no contending with the Almighty” (Trapp). He is the one in my story with the true power and the final say. I don’t have the final say in my story, I’m not in control. My enemy doesn’t have the final say in my story, he doesn’t have control over me. God is above all, over all, and has the final say in all. What He has established no one can tear down. Today know if you have placed your life in His hands nothing and no one can change His hold on you. As John 10:28-29 says, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” Take heart today knowing the life, security, grace, peace, and love that God has established in your story from Him to you no one can change. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1997
Chapter 8
Then I saw all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it out. Even though a wise man claims to know, he cannot find it out. Ecclesiastes 8:17 – God’s ways are just too deep and unsearchable for us to completely understand. Even the wisest people out there aren’t able to fully understand the way God thinks and the reasoning behind all that He does. Which can be frustrating when things happen like spoken about in the verses before this one. Where people following God sometimes end up being punished like someone who isn’t. What’s the point in this? Here is where you have to make the choice of are you going to trust God or not. No matter how hard you try you aren’t going to fully understand Him and the reasons behind what He does. You may never find out either why something happened in life. God though is in control, are you content with just trusting that? Just keep in mind while you don’t fully understand what’s going on God does and He loves you. Maybe just Him knowing is good enough. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 842
Though a sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I know that it will be well with those who fear God, because they fear before him. But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God. Ecclesiastes 8:12-13 – It may seem like all is going well with those who exist in sin, but don’t be deceived. Sin is giving them a false sense of blessing and security, one that is causing them to believe all is well and will never not be well. We know the true end to a life of sin. Death and forever separation from the only all loving God. Choose then to fear and follow God. Let’s lean into the promise of life He gives. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1664
No man has power to retain the spirit, or power over the day of death. There is no discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it. Ecclesiastes 8:8 – You can’t stop death. Last night I shared with our students how it is all God who got us to where we are at today. If it wasn’t for His blessing and allowance, we wouldn’t be here today. If God chose to end our life last night we wouldn’t be here today as we are. As our verse reminds us, we have no power to keep our life past the time it’s called home. Where does that leave us? It should cause us to want to be assured we have placed our life in Jesus’ hands and have accepted His grace and forgiveness of over our sins. For we have no clue when our life will end, and we have no power to keep it a second after that moment to make the decision to follow Jesus then. Secure your eternal life today because you don’t know if tomorrow is assured for you. Truly you don’t know if you have another moment assured to you. If you want to know more about how to start a relationship with Jesus, reach out. If you are a part of our church family or community I also encourage you to come to our service on Sunday. My message will be outlining how to start a relationship with Jesus and giving all who come a chance to start their own walk with Jesus. We would love you to come, or if you are already a believer, we would love for you to invite those you know that don’t yet know Jesus. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1998
Chapter 9
Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good. Ecclesiastes 9:18 – You’ve seen this play out far too often. Like you have people trying to encourage you yet one person degrades you and their negative comment overshadows all the positive from before. Or you have a church moving forward and one person stubbornly refusing to let go of their sin causing turmoil in the congregation. Our passage is reminding us to never discount the damage sin can bring. It can destroy in a instance what time and trust has taken years to build. This is why God is so strict about sin and why He uses His Holy Scriptures to lead us away from sin. God knows better than all how much damage sin can bring. Take the time today to see how you’re inviting sin even in small ways into your life. Be wise and close off the opportunities these sins can have to ruin your life. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 843
Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. Ecclesiastes 9:11 – Certain things to certain people just make sense. Like the one who runs the race the hardest should win the race or the one who is the smartest should be earning the most riches. Yet, as the verse reminds us, that’s not always the case. “Time and chance” play into all this and those that push hard may find themselves on the losing side because of things they could have never planned for. So what’s the message here? Trust God is in control of the variables. Push hard and do your best. Yes, sometimes things in life will go differently than you expected them to and as a result things won’t end up like you planned. Trust through that when a variable in life is thrown in God is aware of it and over it. If we are pushing hard on the path He has shown us to go down we can have faith He’ll take care of us on it. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1665
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going. Ecclesiastes 9:10 – In an interesting way, I’m seeing here that Solomon was first to say YOLO, meaning “you only live once.” Noticing that death is going to come all and there is no work to be done once our life is over, we are to give everything we got to what’s right in front of us. Because you only live once, live this life to the fullest and give your all to the work in front of you. Yet, as believers, this isn’t a push to give yourself wholly over to the sinful pleasures of the world. Just because you have only one life to live you aren’t being called to waste it on sin. You have one life, today is only here for today, at some point your time on earth will end. Until that moment, use your life for the purposes and glorification of God. Don’t wait till tomorrow, don’t give a halfhearted effort; live for Jesus like today is your last. You do only live once, make your life matter by making it about Jesus. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1999
Chapter 10
A wise man’s heart inclines him to the right, but a fool’s heart to the left. Even when the fool walks on the road, he lacks sense, and he says to everyone that he is a fool. Ecclesiastes 10:2-3 – While we can care for the welfare of someone, we must first have a desire for their heart to change towards God. Like this verse says, we can try to help someone get onto the right path in life, but if their heart is to the left, still desiring sinful things, they’re going to lean back that way and clearly show that to all who see. So is helping people a hopeless endeavor? Not at all, just make sure in the process of helping them make right choices in life you help them know about the right choice of bringing Jesus into their life. He’s the one that can shift their heart from the left to the right, to truly wanting the right things in life. So keep helping people who have walked down the wrong path in life, just remember what they really need. A handout, a room, and a meal are all good and helpful, but at the core of our help needs to be a heart wanting to lead them to Jesus who can offer them the true help they need. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 844
If the iron is blunt, and one does not sharpen the edge, he must use more strength, but wisdom helps one to succeed. Ecclesiastes 10:10 – When you handle things improperly you find yourself worn down quicker. Here the example given is using an unsharpened axe to cut wood. In order to do the job with this axe you’d have to give a whole lot more effort and strength, yet if you took a moment to sharpen it everything would move smoother. Such is adding wisdom to our movements in life. It’s like sharpening the axe, it just make things smoother. So how do we find wisdom? We lean into the only true source of wisdom, Jesus. Ask Him for clarity, seek help from Him, ask for wisdom on things. God loves it when we seek to handle our lives in ways that He directs us to and He’ll offer the wisdom we need to move forward well. When then was the last time you asked God for wisdom? I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1666
Dead flies make the perfumer’s ointment give off a stench; so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor. Ecclesiastes 10:1 – Last week we were taking our girls driving to teach some basic Driving Ed skills when we found ourselves pulled over on the side of the road changing a tire due to a wrench that found it’s way into our lives that evening. That tiny wrench created such a problem that the entire car could no longer more forward. Our passage illuminates this idea of how something small can completely ruin something beautiful. Here it was flies ruining a perfume and a perfumer’s reputation. Last week it was a wrench stopping a car. Today, for you, what might the small thing be that is ruining something beautiful? Is it a little worry that has caused you to miss out on the amazing provision you have been given? Is it a secret sin that is causing you to lack deep closeness with those you love? Whatever it may be, this small, seemingly insignificant thing, it’s causing destruction. Maybe that destruction has made itself visible like a flat tire. Maybe the destruction is hidden like an infection working in the background unnoticed. Whether you see the negative side yet or not of your “dead flies,” the things that just shouldn’t be in your story, know they are causing real pain. Be willing to lay down even the smallest thing at Jesus’ feet. Allow your story to be free from the things that will defile your story, your witness, and your relationships. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2000
Chapter 11
Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain from your body, for youth and the dawn of life are vanity. Ecclesiastes 11:10 – Set aside this pursuit of sin for life is short and we have a purpose. This chapter is filled with the message to give and show love to those around you for tomorrow is unsure. This selfish pursuit of fleshly desires gets us nowhere but darkness and helps no one, not even ourselves. I want us all to deeply consider the value of each moment we have in life. Our days are short and we must take full advantage of each minute we have. Leaning into sin though isn’t taking advantage of our days for God. God deserves you using your life for Him, part of your life though includes today. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 845
In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good. Ecclesiastes 11:6 – Always seek out ways to help others. This passage reminds us that we can’t always foresee how the seeds we plant may grow. Maybe in the morning we plant the seed of kindness in someone and later that day we open our hands to someone to come and eat with us. God may use both, just one, or neither in that day in a special way, but what we do know is if we never planted any seeds or offered out our hands then we’ve given God nothing to work with. No fruit will grow where no seeds have been planted. What seed can you plant today? In what ways can you choose to not withhold your hand from someone? Give God someone beautiful to work with today and watch the masterpiece He can create. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1667
Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days. Ecclesiastes 11:1 – Have you ever fed bread to the ducks at a local pond? Have those ducks ever served you or took care of you in any way after you fed them? That’s the idea being shared in our verse. Give freely of what you have to others, even when the possibly of the returning that kindness back to you seems highly unlikely or even improbable. Don’t let the reason you give be because you expect something in return. Jesus set for us the greatest example of this. He gave and gave, served to the point of death, and didn’t asked for a returned favor. While we are blessed with people in our story that will serve us, we’ll find many that will take yet never return. With them, trust God with that situation. You just continue to serve them like God has called you to. Keep showing them Jesus, keep pointing them to Him with your life, and trust God to provide for your new lack due to giving out so deeply to those who will never do the same for you. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2001
Chapter 12
For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil. Ecclesiastes 12:14- God’s sees it all. That means God sees and knows all your thoughts and your true motives behind what you do. So while we may be able to fool the people around us into thinking we’re wholeheartedly following Jesus, if we’re hiding some sin know God isn’t fooled. So don’t just let your faithfulness be shown in your actions and words, let their be a purity in your mind and heart as well. The transformation God brings begins on the inside with the changing of our mindsets and thoughts. Changing it to what He wants and to bring Him glory. Be aware then if that’s where God begins His work that means He sees and knows the sinful mindsets and thoughts you aren’t letting go of. Begin to release those and let God start His work in you. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 846
The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. Ecclesiastes 12:13 – Imagine an auction closing down. The item that’s up for auction is what is the whole purpose of mankind. Everything in the world is bidding to be the purpose of mankind. Money is bidding, power is bidding, pleasure is bidding. But nothing can win the bid except one. To fear God and follow His ways. King Solomon here throughout this book showed he explored deeply all these other things to see if they would give him purpose in life and fulfill him. All though was pointless, all was vanity. That is except to love God and to follow Him. This is why you are breathing today. Your purpose today is to love God with all you have and follow His ways today the best you can. What are His ways? To love people deeply and to tell them about Jesus. Go then today and fulfill your reason for existing. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1668
Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity. Ecclesiastes 12:8 – As the writer began the book of Ecclesiastes, he repeats this bold and disheartening message. Everything is vanity, everything in life is pointless. Using chapter after chapter he showed how nothing in the world, nothing under the sun could offer him the point to his existence he was looking for. Wisdom, wealth, and pleasure, even in the greatest amount known to man, couldn’t supply him the purpose and meaning to life he was looking for. All he went after that the world had to offer was vanity. Yet he closes out the book with the one thing that wasn’t pointless, a life with God. “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man” Ecclesiastes 12:13. In your story, one thing is worth it, a following after God and His ways. It’s so tempting to make your life about the things of this world. They seem to offer those who pursue them so much, and in the moment they sure do, but the pleasure they give lasts only a moment. The joy that comes from a pursuit of Jesus is eternal, and as our writer would say, it’s the whole purpose of our life. Find yourself wholly leaning into your walk with Jesus today. Let the one thing that can give your life real meaning and purpose be what you life is all about today. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2002
Daily DEVO 