Spend time in prayer and silence with God asking Him to meet with you and speak to you.
Bible Reading
I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless. “Laughter,” I said, “is madness. And what does pleasure accomplish?” I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives.
I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers, and a harem as well—the delights of a man’s heart. I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me. I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.
– Ecclesiastes 2:1-11
Devotion
Solomon embarked on a frantic search for satisfaction. He held nothing back. Notice his focus—he used the pronouns “I”, “me”, “my”, “mine”, and “myself” 36 times in these 11 verses. His conclusion: Pursuing personal accomplishments or pleasure apart from God is meaningless.
The Big Question
Think about times in your life when you were more interested in pursuing accomplishments or pleasure more than pursuing God? What were the results? Did they bring lasting satisfaction?
Conclude your time in prayer and silence reflecting on what you have learned.