They replied, "If you will be kind to these people and please them and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your servants." – 2 Chronicles 10:7

Today's Scripture Reading (February 10, 2026): 2 Chronicles 10

I met some new friends recently, and a relationship has started. I don't start new relationships easily. I hope this relationship and partnership will continue for a long time. But I also know that often they don't. I have been disappointed by relationships in the past, even very close ones. And at the beginning of a relationship, it is often hard to see how that relationship might end. And yet they do. If only we could see at the start of the relationship what would kill it, maybe we would change that behavior. If only …

Actually, I don't think it is really that hard. It is an attitude, and it will start with me. Oh, I would like to say it will begin with the other person, but that is not reality. The truth is that it has to start with me. I have to be the one to assess and ask, "What am I getting out of this relationship?" At least for me, that question isn't there at the beginning. At the beginning is just a desire to serve – to make the other person better. But later, I began to ask the 'me' questions. That is also the place where the relationship starts to break down. It is there that I lose focus on how I can impact the other person's life.

A genuine relationship always requires an outward focus. As Rehoboam took over the reins of power from his father, he had a chance to restore the country and serve it. But he chose to ask the other question. As a result, the nation he was to lead began a downhill slide.

It is hard, but a fulfilled life truly begins with service. The question in all of our relationships needs to be "how can I serve this person in this place?" If you will be a servant, you truly will have people gathered around you willing to serve. It was that way in the world of Rehoboam, and nothing has changed. It's up to us, but if we want to make the world a better place, we need to choose service!

Rehoboam could have made a difference. He didn't because he listened to the wrong advice and followed a desire that asked, "What is it that you are doing for me?"

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 2 Chronicles 11

By the word of the LORD a man of God came from Judah to Bethel, as Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make an offering. – 1 Kings 13:1

Today's Scripture Reading (February 9, 2026): 1 Kings 13

Bethel. It is one of the names that keep coming up within the Christian Community. We have blessed our churches, campgrounds, and ministries with the name. And all for good reason. The name Bethel has a long history. The etymology of the name is "House (Beth) of God (El)." In the Hebrew Bible, we are told that Abram pitched his tent near Bethel. Later, his Grandson Jacob would have a dream of a stairway to Heaven at Bethel as he ran from his brother, Esau.

However, the esteemed image of Bethel would tarnish. Originally part of the Tribe of Ephraim, Bethel became a crucial spiritual city in the Northern Kingdom of Israel after the Kingdom split into Israel in the North and Judah in the South. King Jeroboam would make a pair of golden calves for his people to worship, so that they wouldn't have to return to Jerusalem. The King declared that these calves were the gods of Israel who had brought their ancestors out of Egypt, echoing Aaron's message after he had created a golden calf while Moses was on the mountain of God. The Israelite King placed these calves in the northern city of Dan, located within the tribal lands of Naphtali, not in the territory of the tribe of Dan, and in Bethel in the South. Bethel, a city with a rich history with the patriarchs and the worship of the God of Israel, was now made into a spiritual place devoted to the worship of false gods. And it became a key city in leading a nation away from God.

Enter this unknown Judean man. The change had just been made. One would have thought that not everyone would agree with the tactics of Jeroboam to replace Israel's God, but apparently that was not true. No one from Israel could be found to oppose the King's plan, so God sends a man from Judea to oppose Jeroboam while the King stands by the altar, preparing to make a sacrifice.

We don't know who the man was, which might be as important as the message he brings. It is a story that is repeated throughout the biblical record. We know the name of Elijah, but when he first appeared before King Ahab, he was a nobody with an important message. And the fact that he wasn't known wouldn't stop him from speaking truth to power. Here, an unknown man is sent with a message to Jeroboam. And in our world, we shouldn't wait for celebrities or spiritual leaders to speak truth to power. Sometimes, it is even more powerful and necessary for us to speak the truth, for no other reason than that God has given us a message to share with those in a position to change our world.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 2 Chronicles 10

Jeroboam built shrines on high places and appointed priests from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites. – 1 Kings 12:31

Today's Scripture Reading (February 8, 2026): 1 Kings 12

The history of the Papacy of the Roman Catholic Church is complicated. There is no doubt that there have been many good and God-honoring men who have been elected to the papacy. I love the story of Gregory I's election as Bishop of Rome. According to the story, Gregory never wanted to be Pope, preferring to remain a monk and lead a life of contemplation and study. When he learned he had been elected Pope, Gregory ran away and tried to hide from his brothers. He was forced back into Rome and made the "Papa" of the Catholic Church, whether he wanted the office or not. Gregory was Pope from 590 to 604 C.E.

Only three Popes have been officially honored with the title "the Great," and chronologically, Gregory is the second to bear it, appearing between Leo (I) the Great (440-461) and Nicholas (I) the Great (858-867). He may not have wanted to be Pope, but Gregory was precisely the man that the church needed as the sixth century closed and the seventh dawned.

I wish that Papal history had given us more Gregorys, but it sometimes seems that for every good Pope, there is a historically bad Pope to balance the scales. One of the bad ones was Pope Benedict IX. Benedict IX was the only Pope who assumed the office three times. He was also possibly the youngest person to be made Pope. We think Benedict was twenty years old when he became Pope, but some reports assert that he was only eleven or twelve. I have grandsons who are turning twelve in a few weeks, and while I am proud of them, I can't imagine either of them as the leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

Benedict IX became Pope not because he had the experience and aptitude for the position, but because his father bribed the Romans to secure it for him. And Benedict IX quickly disgraced the Chair of Peter. Medieval historian, Ferdinand Gregorovius (1821-1891) argued that "It seemed as if a demon from hell, in the disguise of a priest, occupied the chair of Peter and profaned the sacred mysteries of religion by his insolent courses." To be honest, it sounds like something that a precocious twelve-year-old might do. Pope Victor III (1086-1087), in Dialogues III, says that Benedict IX demeaned the papacy by "his rapes, murders, and other unspeakable acts of violence and sodomy. His life as a pope was so vile, so foul, so execrable, that I shudder to think of it."

Jeroboam built shrines in the northern Kingdom and encouraged his people to worship them as gods. But he supported the practice by ordaining men who were unqualified for the priesthood. These were men who wanted to advance themselves, and to do that, they were willing to pervert the priesthood dedicated to the God who had brought Israel out of Egypt, and to focus the worship of the God of Israel on a pair of golden calves that had been placed in the north and the south of the nation.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 13 

Before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars grow dark, and the clouds return after the rain. – Ecclesiastes 12:2

Today's Scripture Reading (February 7, 2026): Ecclesiastes 12

Ronald Reagan, as President, defended his advancing age by quoting Thomas Jefferson. "Thomas Jefferson once said, 'We should never judge a president by his age, only by his works.' And ever since he told me that, I stopped worrying." I hesitate to try to explain someone else's joke, but in case you missed it, Reagan was making an age joke. It is something Ronald Reagan had a particular talent for. He could often make a joke about himself and, in the process, disarm a criticism aimed at him. In this case, his critics were bothered by the President's age. Maybe we have gotten used to older Presidents, but during Reagan's term, there were many comments about his age and fitness for office. Reagan's response is summed up in the Jefferson quote. First, judge me by what I do, not by some arbitrary number on my driver's license. Reagan's sense of humor is evident in the second part of the quote; there, he admits he is old. In fact, he exaggerates it. Jefferson died on July 4, 1826, almost a century before Reagan was born. So, if Jefferson and Reagan had a conversation, Reagan was a lot older than we thought.

It is the one reality we all have to face. That number that climbs at a predictable pace every moment of every year. There was a time when we wanted to look older; we took pride in passing for someone older than we were. But that moment quickly passes, and we dream, and buy creams and hair dyes, to make us look younger than we are. I recently watched a news opinion show and noticed that a network executive who had started joining the onscreen panel about a year ago had dyed his hair. It was like the salt-and-pepper hair had been appropriate when he was an off-screen personality, but if he was going to be on TV regularly, maybe his look needed updating. And don't ever ask someone to guess how old you are, because if the person is honest, we might get the shock of our lives. (Personally, I have decided that no one looks older than forty.)

The Preacher appears to use poetic language in this portion of his sermon. "Before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars grow dark, and the clouds return" is his way of saying before we suffer from the effects of advancing age. Because we all will suffer from age-related ailments, the body will grow weak (the keepers of the house tremble), our legs and knees will begin to hurt and fail (the strong men stoop), and even our teeth will start to leave us (the grinders cease because they are few). We will grow old, and that is not necessarily a bad thing. But we still need to make the most of every moment we are given, until that moment when God brings us home.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 12

Light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes to see the sun. – Ecclesiastes 11:7

Today's Scripture Reading (February 6, 2026): Ecclesiastes 11

Where I live, the days are getting noticeably longer. At their shortest, just a few days before Christmas, the sun was in the sky for less than 7.5 hours, meaning darkness ruled for over 16 hours. Of course, the flipside is true in late June. I don't know where we were, but I remember being on a campout in late June as a kid and staying up late around a fire, telling stories. That night/morning, we watched as the sun's glow died in the west, and by the time it was gone entirely, it was rising again in the east. It was dark, but the glow on the horizon that night was a constant.

The lack of light in December and January can have a dramatic difference on our moods. At the severe end of that spectrum are people who suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). The lack of light in places like where I live can cause severe depression, fatigue, and irritability in some people. And maybe that explains part of my adverse reaction to Christmas and New Year's, a reaction that extends to even the music of the season. I admit that I often try to find radio stations that refuse to play Christmas Carols during December.

Reading Ecclesiastes at this time of year probably should be avoided. The Preacher's writing is not encouraging. But the Preacher admits that light is sweet, and we like to see the sun. That was probably even more true for the Preacher and the people who first read his sermon than for us. After all, we have so many ways of adding artificial light to chase away the darkness. But the Preacher also wants to remind us that even when the sun shines, times of darkness are always coming. As I write these words, the sun is shining, and there is ample blue in the sky above. But it will only be another five or six hours before the darkness dominates my city once again. And while the days are getting longer, they will begin to get shorter as the days of summer begin. So even the sun's presence, according to the Preacher, is meaningless.

So, enjoy the sun while you can, but if you want to add meaning to your life, even the sun can't do that. Light might be sweet, and Seasonal Affective Disorder might seem scary, but we need more than the sun to give our lives meaning.  

As a Christian, I would say we need the Son, not the sun. A change in our moods comes only from Jesus.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ecclesiastes 12

Fools are put in many high positions, while the rich occupy the low ones. – Ecclesiastes 10:6

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 5, 2026): Ecclesiastes 10

In 1969, Dr. Laurence J. Peter, with the help of Raymond Hull, wrote a book titled “The Peter Principle: Why Things Always Go Wrong.” Dr. Peter’s theory is that in a hierarchical environment, executives tend to be promoted to the level of their incompetence. Basically, promotions are given based on current job performance, not on their aptitude for the next level. If you excel at your current job, you can be promoted. And you will continue to be promoted until you are no longer competent at what you do. There you will stay. The result is the mass incompetence of executives who have been promoted beyond the point at which they can excel. The direct result of the “Peter Principle” is that people at the highest level tend to be incompetent; they have been promoted away from the jobs at which they once excelled.

The secret is actually twofold. First, employers need to be more aware of the traits required for the next level of the job, and promote people with the aptitude for that role, rather than promoting simply because the person excels at the job they are currently doing. It is a little more work, and sometimes might even seem unfair. Still, it would keep people at the top of the hierarchical ladder who can excel in that job, rather than depending on their excellence in another, lower position.

The second part of the solution is aimed at the employee. Employees need to consider whether they really can excel at the next step on the ladder. If you don’t have the required ability, then stay where you are. Of course, the real problem is that we often chase more money, security, prestige, and power that only exist at higher levels of the ladder. That means we have to risk climbing another rung to achieve those benefits, even if we know we will not excel at that job.

The Preacher tries to describe Dr. Laurence Peter’s principle. He recognizes that fools are often placed in positions of power and prestige, while the rich, maybe better described as the capable, are stranded on lower rungs. A result of the “Peter Principle” is that executive positions often become clogged with incompetent people, leaving more capable people stranded in lower positions. These executives can neither be promoted nor evidently fired, so they remain in that position, and movement up the hierarchical ladder stagnates. And maybe, there really is no solution to that problem.

(Just a note, if my bosses are reading this, don’t worry, you are doing an excellent job. And I am quite happy occupying the place on the ladder precisely where I am.)

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Ecclesiastes 11

Always be clothed in white, and always anoint your head with oil. – Ecclesiastes 9:8

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 4, 2026): Ecclesiastes 9

The prophet Isaiah received a vision. The vision seemed to pertain to the demise of the city of Jerusalem. The vision was filled with futility. There was no doubt in the vision that the city would die. At the time of the vision, the people were filled with fear. The Assyrians had been on the march for a while, and it was evident that the next nations on their agenda were Israel and Judah. And so, the people waited, filled with dread.

The text tells us that this is “A prophecy against the Valley of Vision” (Isaiah 22:1). The term “Valley of Vision” simply refers to the idea that while Jerusalem is built on a hill, it is surrounded by an even higher hill, and sits in the midst of three valleys. Jerusalem exists at the center of this hill/valley complex. And it is in this prophecy that the prophet writes,

The Lord, the Lord Almighty,
    called you on that day
to weep and to wail,
    to tear out your hair and put on sackcloth.
But see, there is joy and revelry,
    slaughtering of cattle and killing of sheep,
    eating of meat and drinking of wine!
“Let us eat and drink,” you say

    “for tomorrow we die” (Isaiah 22:13-14)!

We shouldn’t miss the point Isaiah is trying to make. Jerusalem, you know trouble is coming, you can see it with your eyes and hear it with your ears. But instead of getting ready, instead of getting right with God, you throw a party because tomorrow you might die.

Paul, in the closing of 1 Corinthians, picks up the same thought.

I face death every day—yes, just as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord. If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus with no more than human hopes, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised,

“Let us eat and drink,
               for tomorrow we die” (1 Corinthians 15:31-32).

If there is no resurrection, then maybe the best thing that we can do is throw a party because there is no hope, not even for us today. Our newscasts are filled with a lack of hope, of innocent people being beaten and killed; it is happening in Ukraine, Iran, and the United States, among several other hotspots. And if God is not powerful enough to help us, then why not kill the fatted calf and throw a party?

The Preacher in Ecclesiastes is arguing the same point. In a world “under the sun,” where what we see daily is all that we get, then be comfortable. Wearing white is comfortable under the hot sun, and oil has a cooling effect and helps protect the skin. If this is all that there is, then why would you do anything else? Do what is necessary and forget about going the extra mile. Eat, drink, and be merry in your white ensemble, because in the end, that is all you have.

In a world under the sun, the advice works. In a city that is about to fall to the Assyrians, that works. But maybe Jerusalem is our cautionary tale. While the people of Jerusalem, at the time of Isaiah’s prophecy, felt that the attack of the Assyrians was imminent, that attack didn’t come for almost a quarter of a century. Samaria and Israel fell four short years after Isaiah’s prophecy, but the attack on Jerusalem wouldn’t come for another twenty-four years. And even when it did come, it would fail.

So maybe there is a reason to go beyond what is easy and pleasurable. Because God is still with us, and there is more than what is seen “under the sun.”

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Ecclesiastes 10