Teaching Devotional

Weekly Devotional

Need help studying the Bible? Don’t know where to start or what to study next?
Join us right here every week for a weekly devotional based off of Sunday’s teaching.
Every week we’ll update this content so you can jump deeper into God’s Word.

MONDAY:

Joy in Sun, Learning in Rain

Ecclesiastes 7:14 describes a simple but profound truth. Solomon says to enjoy the good days and learn from the bad ones. He warns against simplifying life into prosperity good and adversity bad. This rarely works. A cherished VW Bus is stored away and driven only in perfect conditions. A beat-up Mustang is driven without a care, parked anywhere. Both vehicles have a purpose and a place.

God gives both prosperity and adversity. He designs each for a specific reason. We can enjoy the good days as gifts from His hand. We can learn and grow from the difficult ones. This requires faith in God’s ability to work all things for our good, just as He did for Moses’ mother in her adversity.

You will face both good and bad days this week. Will you receive them both from God? Stop trying to control your circumstances. Instead, embrace them. Enjoy the gift of a good day fully. Ask God what He wants to teach you in a hard one. Where is God inviting you to trust His plan today, instead of labeling your circumstances as simply good or bad?

In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.
(Ecclesiastes 7:14, ESV)

Prayer: Ask God for the faith to receive both joy and hardship from His hand today.

Challenge: Identify one “good” thing and one “hard” thing in your day and thank God for both.

TUESDAY:

The Scales in Our Heads

Solomon observes a strange reality in Ecclesiastes 7:15. A righteous person perishes despite their righteousness. A wicked person lives long despite their evil. This contradicts our innate sense of fairness. We carry invisible scales in our heads, constantly weighing what people deserve. We call this karma. We say, “He had that coming,” or “She finally got what she deserved.”

This karma mindset is bad religion. It is our default setting to believe we can earn righteousness with God through a list of things we do or do not do. We think good behavior merits good outcomes and bad behavior merits bad ones. But life in a broken world does not work that way, and this system is not God’s economy.

You likely operate with these internal scales. You feel anger when someone “gets away” with something. You feel pride when you “deserve” a break. This is the treadmill of earned righteousness. Hear the good news that righteousness is a gift from Jesus, not a list. What internal scale do you need to let go of to receive God’s grace today?

I have seen everything in the days of my vanity. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing.
(Ecclesiastes 7:15, ESV)

Prayer: Confess to God your tendency to keep score and ask for grace to receive His gift of righteousness.

Challenge: When you feel yourself judging what someone “deserves” today, stop and silently pray, “Grace, Lord.”

WEDNESDAY:

The Nitpicker and the Mirror

Solomon gives a strange warning in Ecclesiastes 7:16-17. He says not to be overly righteous or overly wicked. This is not a call to moderation in sin. He warns against a nitpicking, self-made righteousness that annoys others and destroys ourselves. This is the person who corrects on trivial matters, missing the heart of God just as the religious leaders did with Jesus.

True righteousness is not a list of rules we achieve. It is a state of being we receive from Christ. The solution to this pride is the mirror. Solomon admits his own lack of wisdom. We must first look at ourselves. The disciples modeled this when Jesus said one would betray Him. They did not point at Judas. Each asked, “Is it I, Lord?”

Before you correct another person, first look in the mirror. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you your own heart. This is the best way to avoid being destroyed by hurt feelings and self-righteous pride. When a conflict arises, will your first question be about their fault or your own?

Be not overly righteous, and do not make yourself too wise. Why should you destroy yourself? Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time?
(Ecclesiastes 7:16-17, ESV)

Prayer: Ask God to reveal one area where you have been “overly righteous” or nitpicky towards others.

Challenge: In a conversation today, make a conscious effort to listen without correcting or adding your opinion.

THURSDAY:

The Metoo Movement of the Heart

Ecclesiastes 7:21-22 offers practical advice for relationships. Solomon says not to take to heart everything people say. You have probably heard others speak half-truths about you. But then he turns the mirror back on us. He reminds us that we have also spoken critically about others. We have all been the offender. We all need a “metoo” movement of the heart.

This principle is the foundation of the Lord’s Prayer. We ask God to forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors. They are linked. We cannot receive grace while withholding it. The disciples understood this when they each asked Jesus, “Is it I?” who would betray Him. They knew their own capacity for failure.

You have been hurt. But you have also hurt others. Holding onto offense is an autoimmune disease of the soul. The only tool you have is your own response. Will you choose to extend the same grace you desperately need? Who do you need to forgive today, recognizing you too have needed forgiveness?

Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others.
(Ecclesiastes 7:21-22, ESV)

Prayer: Ask God to bring to mind someone you have spoken critically about, and pray a blessing over them.

Challenge: Write down the name of one person you have judged, and intentionally pray for their good.

FRIDAY:

The One You Can Control

Solomon ends this section with a summary of the human condition in Ecclesiastes 7:29. God made man upright. But we have sought out many schemes. We take the good gifts of God—like sex, food, and success—and we scheme with them. We twist them for our own purposes. We become entrapped by our own idols, just as Solomon was with his many wives.

This is not just Solomon’s story. It is our story. The human heart is an idol factory. We scheme with God’s good gifts and find ourselves in a snare. The answer is to start with the one person you can control: the one in the mirror. We must confess, “It is I.” God alone can make us upright again and set us on the right path.

Your life is the sum of your choices. You cannot control another person’s actions, only your response. Will you scheme with God’s gifts today, or will you receive them with thanks? Will you ask God to search your heart and lead you on the path of life? What one good gift have you been scheming with instead of enjoying?

See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.
(Ecclesiastes 7:29, ESV)

Prayer: Ask God to search your heart and reveal one “scheme” or idol you have created from His good gifts.

Challenge: Identify one good gift from God (e.g., your phone, food, comfort) and set a boundary for its use today to enjoy it as a gift.

TEACHING DETAILS:

DATE: May 24, 2026

SCRIPTURE: Ecclesiastes 7:17-29

SPEAKER: Matt Heverly