Dear Ones,
May you have a wonderful weekend! Also, hope that you are not so busy that you are missing the joy of Advent. Today I plan to make Swedish meatballs and bake and do some cleaning of cupboards etc.
Devotions from Judy’s heart
Black Friday was last week, when mobs of people went shopping for sales for Christmas gifts to give to some people who have everything. And in contrast, there are others who are sending Shoe Boxes of many essentials and a toy for children who have nothing and this will be their only gift. One would think that the man who has everything would be the happiest, but that is not necessarily true. I am reading from the book of Ecclesiastes and King Solomon, the wisest king had everything his heart could conceive. But even though he was the richest king, he found it was all vanity, for having more does not produce happiness. As he says in Eccl. 5:10, “The lover of money will not be satisfied with money; nor the lover of wealth, with gain. This also is vanity.” He recognizes that accumulating wealth will never make one fulfilled or satisfied. The bottom line is that you can’t take it with you. In verse 15 Solomon says, “As (the man) came forth from his mother’s womb, so he will go again, naked as he came, and he will take away nothing for all his labor which he can carry in his hand.” All that we accumulate in this life will be left behind for others that didn’t earn it, and may not even be good for them to have.

But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t enjoy what we have been given, for it is all a gift from the Lord. Near the end of his life, Solomon goes on to say that what is most important is to know and to fear and to obey God. God will one day judge everything. In Eccl. 12:13 (Amplified) he says, “All has been heard; the end of the matter is: Fear God (revere and worship Him, knowing that He is) and keep His commandments, for this is the whole of man (the full, original purpose of his creation, the object of God’s providence, the root of character, the foundation of all happiness; the adjustment to all inharmonious circumstances and conditions under the sun) and the whole (duty) for every man.” These words came from a man who tried everything in life, and yet it boils down not to money and wealth, but to fear, obey and enjoy God.

Challenge for today: Ask to know ways that you are putting other things before God, and seek Him first.
Blessings on your weekend and prayers and love, Judy