Our Daily Bread Devotional 31 August 2022 || When Knowledge Hurts
Our Daily Bread Devotional 31 August 2022 || ODB Today Message For Today
Our Daily Bread Devotional 31 August 2022 || ODB Today
READ WEDNESDAY ODB DEVOTIONAL, OUR DAILY BREAD 31ST AUGUST 2022 WRITTEN BY KATARA PATTON (OUR DAILY BREAD MINISTRIES)
TOPIC: When Knowledge Hurts
KEY VERSE: For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief. – Ecclesiastes 1:18
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE: Ecclesiastes 1:12–18
12 I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 I applied my mind to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a heavy burden God has laid on mankind! 14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
READ: August 30, 2022 – Our Daily Bread Devotional || Leave the Light On
15 What is crooked cannot be straightened;
what is lacking cannot be counted.
16 I said to myself, “Look, I have increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much of wisdom and knowledge.” 17 Then I applied myself to the understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after the wind.
18 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;
the more knowledge, the more grief.
BIBLE IN A YEAR: Psalms 132–134; 1 Corinthians 11:17–34
Our Daily Bread Devotional 31 August 2022 INSIGHT
The book of Ecclesiastes is as strange as Proverbs is familiar. Author Ray Pritchard notes that “the ratio of regular readers of the Proverbs versus Ecclesiastes is probably 1000:1.” Though less popular, the significance of the book must not be missed. Ecclesiastes reads like somebody’s journal entries as the author (believed by many to have been Solomon), records his search for fulfillment, the results of his search, and some recommendations.
The thesis statement of the book is given in verse 2: “Meaningless! Meaningless! . . . Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” How does one hold in tension the reality that our worldly existence is a gift from a loving God? While the point is highlighted over and over in the book that “all is vanity” (nkjv)—the fact that such a fragile life is best lived in the “fear of God” is also emphasized (see 12:13–14).
READ: ODB Reading | Our Daily Bread Devotional 29 August 2022 | Seeds of Time
Our Daily Bread Devotional 31 August 2022 MESSAGE
Zach Elder and his friends pulled up to shore after a twenty-five-day rafting trip through the Grand Canyon. The man who came to retrieve their rafts told them about the COVID-19 virus. They thought he was joking. But as they left the canyon their phones pinged with their parents’ urgent messages. Zach and his friends were stunned. They wished they could return to the river and escape what they now knew.
In a fallen world, knowledge often brings pain. The wise Teacher of Ecclesiastes observed, “With much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief” (1:18). Who hasn’t envied a child’s blissful ignorance? She doesn’t yet know about racism, violence, and cancer. Weren’t we happier before we grew up and discerned our own weaknesses and vices? Before we learned our family’s secrets—why our uncle drinks heavily or what caused our parents’ divorce?
The pain from knowledge can’t be wished away. Once we know, it’s no use pretending we don’t. But there’s a higher knowledge that empowers us to endure, even thrive. Jesus is the Word of God, the light that shines in our darkness (John 1:1–5). He “has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30). Your pain is your reason to run to Jesus. He knows you and cares for you.
READ ALSO: August 28, 2022 – Our Daily Bread Devotional || Love and Lean on God
Our Daily Bread Devotional 31 August 2022 | ODB For Wednesday
REFLECT: What’s something you wished you didn’t know? Tell Jesus about it. Then leave it with Him. Whenever it troubles you, take it to Jesus again.
PRAY: Jesus, I don’t enjoy pain, but if it drives me to You, it’s worth it.
ALSO, READ August 27, 2022 – Our Daily Bread Devotional || Plans and Providence
Our Daily Bread Devotional 31st August 2022 || ODB Today Message . Our Daily Bread Ministries (ODB) is a Christian organization founded by Dr. Martin De Haan in 1938. It is based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with over 600 employees. It produces several devotional publications, including Our Daily Bread. our daily bread booklet
Salvation Prayer
Have you ever made Jesus the Lord and Savior of your life?
If not, pray this prayer and start a new life in Christ.
Dear God, I come to You in the Name of Jesus. I admit that I am not right with You, and I want to be right with You. I ask You to forgive me of all my sins. The Bible says if I confess with my mouth that “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in my heart that God raised Him from the dead, I will be saved (Rom. 10:9). I believe with my heart and I confess with my mouth that Jesus is the Lord and Savior of my life. Thank You for saving me! In Jesus’ Name I pray. Amen.
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