Saturday of Ember Week in Lent
Posted on March 4, 2023 by under
Scripture: Ecclesiastes 5:9-20 (NKJV)
5:9 Moreover the profit of the land is for all; even the king is served from the field.
10 He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver; Nor he who loves abundance, with increase. This also is vanity.
11 When goods increase, they increase who eat them; So what profit have the owners except to see them with their eyes?
12 The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much; But the abundance of the rich will not permit him to sleep.
13 There is a severe evil which I have seen under the sun: Riches kept for their owner to his hurt.
14 But those riches perish through misfortune; When he begets a son, there is nothing in his hand.
15 As he came from his mother’s womb, naked shall he return, to go as he came; And he shall take nothing from his labor which he may carry away in his hand.
16 And this also is a severe evil—just exactly as he came, so shall he go. And what profit has he who has labored for the wind?
17 All his days he also eats in darkness, and he has much sorrow and sickness and anger.
18 Here is what I have seen: It is good and fitting for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life which God gives him; for it is his heritage. 19 As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor—this is the gift of God. 20 For he will not dwell unduly on the days of his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart.
Devotion
“For he will not dwell unduly on the days of his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart.”
Those who do not know the peace of God in Christ Jesus have much to fear in this life. Though they oftentimes put on a good show—making many think they have it all together—the truth is that they do not even have sure confidence in what tomorrow will bring. The uncertainty of life weighs heavy on the heart, and without the knowledge of God, it can seem that life is meaningless. Here today, and gone tomorrow. Nothing is really worth doing without the purposes of God.
God orders our days. So much so that He came to live a perfect life in order to secure our eternity through His death and resurrection. When we know that our days are in the hands of the Lord we have peace. We know that the same God who loved us enough to die for us, even while we were still sinners, cares for us in every earthly need, just as the first article of the Creed teaches.
Prayer: Lord, we beseech Thee, look down graciously upon Thy people, and mercifully turn away from them the scourges of Thy wrath, through our Jesus Christ, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Collect for Invocavit
Lord, mercifully hear our prayer, and stretch forth the right hand of Thy Majesty to defend us from them that rise up against us; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Collect for the Season of Lent
Almighty and Everlasting God, Who hatest nothing that Thou hast made, and dost forgive the sins of all those who are penitent: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins, and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of Thee, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
