October 20th 2024 Our Daily Bread Devotional

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October 20th 2024 Our Daily Bread Devotional

Topic: The Payoff
Bible in a Year: Isaiah 59-61; 2 Thessalonians 3
Bible Verse: Seek first [God’s] kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. – Matthew 6:33

Today’s Scripture: Ecclesiastes 2:1-5, 11-17
Insight: Should we view this life’s frustrations as a gift? For that matter, is even death itself a gift? Those are questions we must consider given the Teacher’s (see Ecclesiastes 1:1) conclusion here: “The wise, like the fool . . . must die” (2:16). The prospect of his own death compelled him to ponder where he might find true meaning. If he’d found satisfaction in the temporary pleasures and even the good things he pursued, the Teacher might not have acknowledged the only true source of fulfillment—God Himself (see 12:13). Awareness of our own mortality can prompt us to seek God. By: Tim Gustafson

October 20th 2024 Our Daily Bread Devotional Message

In 1921, artist Sam Rodia began construction on his Watts Towers. Thirty-three years later, seventeen sculptures rose as high as thirty meters over Los Angeles. Musician Jerry Garcia was dismissive of Rodia’s lifework. “That’s the payoff,” said Garcia. “That thing that exists after you’re dead.” Then he said, “Wow, that’s not it for me.”

So what was the payoff for him? His bandmate Bob Weir summed up their philosophy: “In eternity, nothing will be remembered of you. So why not just have fun?”

A wealthy, wise man once tried to find the “payoff” by doing everything he possibly could. He wrote, “I said to myself, ‘Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good’ ” (Ecclesiastes 2:1). But he noted, “The wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered” (v. 16). He concluded, “The work that is done under the sun was grievous to me” (v. 17).

The life and message of Jesus radically counter such shortsighted living. Jesus came to give us “life to the full” (John 10:10) and taught us to live this life with the next one in view. “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,” He said. “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:19-20). Then He summed it up: “Seek first [God’s] kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (v. 33).

That’s the payoff—both under the sun and beyond. By: Tim Gustafson

Reflect & Pray
How do you want to be remembered? What does it mean to “store up treasures in heaven”?

Father God, please help me serve You joyfully with eternity in view.

Joel Osteen Daily Devotional – 15th October 2024