Daily Devotionals

'Every Day Light' with Selwyn Hughes

Devotional: August 11th

For Reading and Meditation:
     Ecclesiastes 12:1

At long last we are introduced in the most clear terms to the only one who can give life meaning - God. Some people need to feel and experience the utter futility of trying to quench the deep thirsts of their souls in any other way but in God. An Hasidic story tells of a man who went for a walk in a forest and got lost. He wandered around for hours attempting to find his way back home. Suddenly he came across another traveler who was also lost, and together they sat down to discuss what they could do. "I know," said one, "let's tell each other what paths we have tried and then it will be that much easier to find our way out." They did, and within a few hours both emerged safely from the forest. This is how many people find God - they try one meaningless path after another until, in the end, they find the Way. The point Solomon makes in the verse before us today is that the best time to know God is when one is young. It is perilously possible that if the opportunity to open one's heart to God is not taken in youth, then procrastination can build strong resistance into the soul that makes it difficult (though not impossible) to respond in later life. I gave my life to God when I was in my midteens. Now, many years later, I thrill to the thought that not only have I known Him, but I have had the privilege of serving Him also. Believe me, there can be no greater joy.

O Father, I can testify to that too - there is no greater joy than knowing You and serving You. And as long as I am on this earth, may the wonder of both these privileges increase and abound. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.