SEEK DAILY (NBC) Thursday, August 10 EMPTY WITHOUT CHRIST

EMPTY WITHOUT CHRIST

RBT: Jeremiah 22-24

Memory Verse: “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them” 'Ecclesiastes 12:1, NIV

Bible Text: Ecclesiastes 12:1-11

12:1 Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them”—

12:2 before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars grow dark, and the clouds return after the rain; 

12:3 when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men stoop, when the grinders cease because they are few, and those looking through the windows grow dim;

12:4 when the doors to the street are closed and the sound of grinding fades; when people rise up at the sound of birds, but all their songs grow faint; 

12:5 when people are afraid of heights 

and of dangers in the streets; when the almond tree blossoms and the grasshopper drags itself along and desire no longer is stirred. Then people go to their eternal home and mourners go about the streets. 

12:6 Remember him—before the silver cord is severed, and the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, and the wheel broken at the well,

12:7 and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

12:8 “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Everything is meaningless!”  

12:9 Not only was the Teacher wise, but he also imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. 

12:10 The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true. 

12:11 The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails—given by one shepherd.

Angelus Silesius writes about how the birth and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ can be meaningful in a life in the poem below: 

Though Christ a thousand times

In Bethlehem be born.

If he's not born in thee,

Thy soul is still forlorn.

The cross on Golgotha 

Will never save thy soul

The cross in thine own heart

Alone can make thee whole. 

It is evident from today's passage that man is empty without Christ. According to Solomon, such a person will end this life in resentment, frustration, irritation, or deep regret. Solomon uses several images of death in verse six; these are poetic images which portray the awful reality of the severing of life and the end of that person's walk upon the earth. Solomon doesn't stop preaching the truth to the people, even though he feels the emptiness and hopelessness of his own life. 

Solomon had wealth and power, but lacked peace and joy. Man is empty and incomplete without Christ. 

Make sure you take each step daily with your eyes fixed on Jesus. 

Walk in the fear of the LORD, the power of the Holy Spirit, and do not grieve Him.

Insight: A life is vanity upon vanity when Christ is not involved.

Prayer: LORD, help me to be focused upon You throughout my lifetime.