Key Verse: Ecclesiastes 9:10
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.

Solomon, the writer of Ecclesiastes, lived a long life. He had the opportunity to observe the power and majesty of God, as well as the futility and meaninglessness of life apart from God. It’s not hard to observe that Solomon, having received many blessings from God, was not always committed fully to Him. As a younger man, Solomon had worked diligently in building the Temple and in developing alliances with neighbouring countries, which maintained peace and prosperity for Israel. In his later years, he turned his attention to satisfying his personal desires for pleasure and wealth, and it began a trend in which Israel eventually turned away from God to embrace the religions of its neighbours. As an encouragement for us to serve God with all our heart, our mind and our strength, we could read Romans 13:11-14. Had Solomon done this, the history of Israel could’ve been so very different.

PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Father God, I pray for the grace to do as our key verse says and serve You with all my might. Help me to never, never, never give up on doing right and in doing it with a passionate love for You. In the Name of the One who did this 100% of the time, the Lord Jesus Christ, I pray, Amen!!!

100 PERSONAL WORDS:
I’m thinking about “the grave,” as mentioned in our key verse. My diagnosis of MDS acute leukemia indicated that I would visit the grave by this coming March (of course it would be only a temporary visit, as Jesus promised He will raise all who die with faith in Him). Let me report to you that I’m feeling so much better now than I was last year. Last Summer I resembled a rack of bones, I had lost so much weight. But now my appetite is back, I’ve gained back 25 pounds, and my energy level is high. I feel like a new man! Praise the Lord and thanks to all who have prayed for me.

In meditating on our key verse, I turned to Luke 9:62 and read the Words of Jesus, “No one, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of God.” I know my only fitness spiritually is because of my faith in Christ, but here and now by my human free will I have “put my hand to the plough” in a two-year commitment to this daily blog. That commitment is not up until June 3rd, over two months after it was predicted that I would die with what is known as a “terminal illness.” God’s healing power and considerable skill on the part of the doctors seem to be changing that predicted date of March 2014. What do you think? I’d love to hear from you.

Yours for, as Jesus said, “Not looking back!”

David