VERSE: Sorrow is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart. — Ecclesiastes 7:3 THOUGHT: We often shield ourselves from things that would bring us a sad face. We don’t like to look at the pictures of starving children that look like skeletons with swollen stomachs. We don’t like to hear about the horrors of human trafficking – how men in Thailand can have their way …

VERSE: The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep. — Ecclesiastes 5:12 THOUGHT: Why in the world would Solomon say “the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep”? Solomon would know better than any of us, being as though he was the richest king who has ever lived. One might think that …

VERSE: Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. As a dream comes …

VERSE: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! — Ecclesiastes 4:10 THOUGHT: Thank God He has not called us to live out this Christian life as a bunch of scattered lone rangers. I am so grateful that in His wisdom, God decided to make me a part of the body of Christ, dependent …