DAILY BREAD READING (Published Daily by Our Daily Bread Ministries)
MAY 5, 2026
READ: Ecclesiastes 7 (Focus vs. 1-10)
MEMORY VERSE
“Death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart.” Ecclesiastes 7:2
BACKGROUND
Besides attending ceremonies and signing policies after taking the oath of office, new US presidents are greeted with a cold reality: They start making their own funeral plans. That way the country will be prepared to celebrate their lives when they die.
George H. W. Bush was asked if it was “weird” to be planning his own memorial. He replied, “You kind of get used to it.” Historians will write about their legacies, but presidents get to plan the personal and traditional parts of their services and the ways they will be remembered.
Death is a sobering reality we all must face. King Solomon, who searched for the meaning of life in pleasure, work, and knowledge, and came up empty, said, “It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting” (Ecclesiastes 7:2).
Negative situations give more perspective than happy times. If we face the reality of death, we can better prepare for what comes after. Verse two adds, “Death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart.” We should ponder it and plan on it.
Preparation comes from receiving forgiveness of sin from Jesus, who died for us and rose again. Everyone dies because death came when the first man, Adam, disobeyed God, and we have followed his ways. But “everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life” (1 Corinthians 15:22 nlt).
Anne Cetas
INSIGHT
The Teacher in Ecclesiastes (1:1) offers the bleak perspective that for human beings, who are destined to die, attempting to grasp a firm understanding of life’s meaning is futile, like trying to take hold of the wind (v. 14).
Yet the Teacher doesn’t conclude that pursuing wisdom is pointless. Chapter 7 emphasizes that some paths in life are “better” than others (vv. 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 10).
Death’s finality (vv. 1-2, 4) clarifies the relative greater value of some things over others—such as a life guided by wisdom instead of foolishness (v. 11).
Still, Ecclesiastes contains an unresolved tension: Wisdom has value, yet death erases the permanence of all that’s valuable.
The New Testament offers a fuller answer to the questions death raises—insisting that Jesus defeated death’s power through His death and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:54-57; 2 Timothy 1:10).
Through Christ, all of life regains meaning in light of eternity.
Monica La Rose
APPLICATION
How have you prepared to face death? How do you want to be remembered?
PR’s (Pastor Richard) RE-EMPHASIS (From Today’s Post)
“Death is a sobering reality we all must face. (Its) finality clarifies the relative greater value of some things over other…”
PR’s TAKE
Death and life are on both sides of the coin of living Pr –Inspired
“…I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die…Philippians 1:20-21
Through Christ, all of life (including death) regains meaning in light of eternity. Today’s Insight
PRAYER
“Thank You, saving God, for promising that in Christ all who die will be made alive again.”
TODAY’S HYMN/WORSHIP/PRAISE/GOSPEL SONG
“ABIDE WITH ME”
Abide with me: fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.
Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away.
Change and decay in all around I see.
O thou who changest not, abide with me.
I need thy presence every passing hour.
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s power?
Who like Thyself my guide and strength can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, O abide with me.
I fear no foe with Thee at hand to bless,
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if thou abide with me.
Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes.
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
Heaven’s morning breaks and earth’s vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.
