Daily Scripture:The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouting of a ruler among fools. Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one bungler destroys much good. (Ecclesiastes 9.17-18)Daily Reflection:‘The Preacher’ (Ecclesiastes) was not a man with rose-coloured spectacles. After long experience and critical examination he described most human activity as ‘chasing after the wind’. And that was in an age when the pace of life was much slower than in our hyperactive world. Wherever he looked, he detected Vanity Projects – ‘I saw all the deeds that are done under the sun; and see, all is vanity and chasing after the wind’. God, he decided, has given us life not to compete in accumulating things or power, but to enjoy and to share. Quiet words of the wise. David Harmsworth
Daily Scripture:So I commend enjoyment, for there is nothing better for people under the sun than to eat, and drink, and enjoy themselves, for this will go with them in their toil through the days of life that God gives them under the sun. (Ecclesaistes 8 v 15)Daily Reflection:How are your New Year’s Resolutions going?? I have been trying very hard to stick to one of mine and that is - to enjoy myself more. Allowing myself time to relax and enjoy the good things God has given me in this life enhances not only my own state of mind and well-being but positively influences all those around me. I want to be the kind of person that people want to be around. I want to enjoy the relationships that God has given me and everything else he has entrusted into my care. After God created the world, he stopped and rested. On the seventh day, he took time to enjoy his creation and to rest from his work. It is good for us to work hard and to be successful but let it not be at the expense of everything else. Let us take time to enjoy the fruit of our labours. Lyn Hayes ALM
Daily Scripture:This alone I have learnt - God made us plain and simple, but we have made ourselves very complicated. (GNB Ecclesiastes 7v 29)Daily Reflection:Animals are quite content to simply be themselves, but we humans are always looking for more, or other, than we find ourselves to be. We search our souls for meaning, shop the world for our pleasure, try this and try that to "find ourselves" - the harder we try the less we seem to "find!" In the end, all we are trying to find is our simple humanity and its meaning. Ecclesiastes is about someone trying to find the "meaning of life", as those Monty Python boys put it!The last and final word in this book is this "Fear (Respect) God, and do what he tells you". That's it - the meaning of life! Until we realise that life really is this simple, we will keep struggling in our endeavours for "enlightenment". Jesus came into this world to show us this truth. God wants to know you, He wants to communicate with you and longs for you to listen to Him, so that He can fill your life with good things. It really is that simple. There is nothing else to discover. Vicki Young
Daily Scripture:As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing. (2 Timothy 4:5-8)Daily Reflection:Paul is writing to Timothy, urging him to carry on the work they started. He himself is almost done. His time is up.When a good person dies, like my friend who passed away on Friday, then we are sad. Yet, we also know that their life was full of meaning, that they were loved and loved others in return. They have done all that they could to leave this world a better place. Learning from them, we should also make sure we ‘fight the good fight’ and that we ‘finish the race’. Joy, my friend, certainly ‘kept the faith’; a lifelong Christian she embodied all that is good and right and kind – and she had the driest, most wicked sense of humour! Our Lord will get a good chuckle when he hands her the crown…Revd Ylva
