Tuesday
Ecclesiastes 9:4-6

A popular cultural belief in Solomon’s day was that the dead could be contacted by the living in order to learn the future or discover the fates of the dead. Solomon, however, affirms Jewish belief by asserting the dead know nothing. Through the story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31, Jesus also taught that the dead cannot return to teach the living. In the story, the rich man who experienced death in Hell wanted Lazarus who was experiencing life in Heaven to go and warn his family about the realities of these two destinies. However, Jesus, through the voice of Abraham in the story, says that if the living will not listen to the truth of the prophets, then they also will not listen to the dead.

While alive, humanity has the opportunity to know God and to make him known. How can you intentionally praise God today with the life you have been given?