June 5, 2023 – Our Daily Bread Devotional, Monday ODB Message
June 5, 2023 – Our Daily Bread Devotional, ODB Devotional Message for Monday written by Sheridan Voysey
TOPIC: Seasons
BIBLE IN A YEAR: 2 Chronicles 23–24; John 15
KEY VERSE: There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: Ecclesiastes 3:1
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
Ecclesiastes 3:1–14
INSIGHT FOR OUR DAILY BREAD 5TH JUNE 2023 BY BILL CROWDER
While some dispute Solomon’s authorship of Ecclesiastes, there’s good internal evidence to support it. In Ecclesiastes 1:1 we read, “The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem.” Solomon was the only son of David to reign as king in Jerusalem, though the author identifies himself as “the Teacher” or “the Preacher.” Whereas Solomon’s sayings in the book of Proverbs offer wisdom for life in a broken world, Ecclesiastes focuses more on the difficulty of living in such a world.
OUR DAILY BREAD DEVOTIONAL 5TH JUNE 2023 MESSAGE:
I recently came across a helpful word: wintering. Just as winter is a time of slowing down in much of the natural world, author Katherine May uses this word to describe our need to rest and recuperate during life’s “cold” seasons. I found the analogy helpful after losing my father to cancer, which sapped me of energy for months. Resentful of this forced slowing down, I fought against my winter, praying summer’s life would return. But I had much to learn.
Ecclesiastes famously says there’s “a season for every activity under the heavens”—a time to plant and to harvest, to weep and to laugh, to mourn and to dance (3:1–4). I had read these words for years but only started to understand them in my wintering season. For though we have little control over them, each season is finite and will pass when its work is done. And while we can’t always fathom what it is, God is doing something significant in us through them (v. 11). My time of mourning wasn’t over. When it was, dancing would return. Just as plants and animals don’t fight winter, I needed to rest and let it do its renewing work.
“Lord,” a friend prayed, “would You do Your good work in Sheridan during this difficult season.” It was a better prayer than mine. For in God’s hands, seasons are purposeful things. Let’s submit to His renewing work in each one.
REFLECTION: When have you wanted a season to end before its time? What do you think God wants to do in you this season?
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for using every season for Your glory and my good.
Our Daily Bread Devotional 5 June 2023 || ODB for Monday 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 devotional for today audio our daily bread booklet.
READ ALSO: Scripture Union Daily Guide 5 June 2023 – Praising the King of the Nations!
