Humility | July 19
Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, before the difficult days come, and the years draw near when you say, “I have no pleasure in them”:
While the sun and the light, the moon and the stars, are not darkened, and the clouds do not return after the rain;
In the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men bow down; when the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look through the windows grow dim;
When the doors are shut in the streets, and the sound of grinding is low; when one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of music are brought low;
Also they are afraid of height, and of terrors in the way; when the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper is a burden, and desire fails. For man goes to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets.
Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the well.
Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.
”Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher, “All is vanity.”
Ecclesiastes 12:1-8
Father, life is only futile if we believe that this life is all there is. We know that dust returns to dust and that our physical bodies are as nothing. It is only our spirit, united with Your Spirit, which gives meaning to life now and life forever.
If so, Father, teach us this day what it is that matters. Whether we are young or old Father, help us learn why we exist and how our spirit will exist forever, united as one with You. Help us never experience a day in which we say “we have no pleasure in our days as we grow old”. Each day draws us nearer to You and the joy in knowing that fact lifts our spirits, whether we are young or old.
Father, thank you for teaching us that life is not about three score and 10 years but instead showing us that it is a “proving ground” where we are able to be tested by You and where You will help us overcome evil spirits, spirits which are as real as You are Father and which we can not overcome by ourselves. It is in Your strength that we endure. In Jesus Holy name, we pray, amen.
Bruce Caldwell
The Sola Scriptura Project
