OPEN HEAVEN 23 MAY 2025 FRIDAY TOPIC: LIFE IS A CHALLENGE
OPEN HEAVEN 23 MAY 2025 MEMORISE: The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute. Proverbs 12:24
OPEN HEAVEN 23 MAY 2025 READ: Ecclesiastes 12:1-7
1 Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;
2 While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain:
3 In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened,
4 And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of musick shall be brought low;
5 Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:
6 Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.
7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
OPEN HEAVEN 23 MAY 2025 MESSAGE
An author once said, “Life is a challenge; meet it.” I would even go further to say, “Rise above it.” Nowadays, however, many young people are seeking a ‘soft life’; there is nothing like a soft life.
When I was in secondary school, my teacher taught me that every human being brought a pillow into this world, which must be used before we leave.
If some people choose not to use the pillow when they are young, they will definitely use it when they are old. According to my teacher, that pillow represents hardship.
If young people choose to put aside pleasures and go through the hardship of discipline to study, work hard, and nurture the right relationships in their youth, they will enjoy their old age.
However, if they choose to party and play around in their youth, when they are old, they will either be lonely or have no choice but to work hard to make ends meet.
What my teacher called a pillow is what the Bible calls “the yoke’ in Lamentations 3:27: It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
Note that the Scripture above does not say ‘a yoke’, but ‘the yoke’. In other words, every individual has a yoke, and it is good for that person to bear it in his or her youth.
People who don’t want to bear the yoke in their youth are lazy people. Some people are born into royal families, but they may never have the opportunity to rule if they are lazy.
Who, then, is qualified to rule? Anyone who wants to rule must be ready for hard work.
Those who want to rule must be ready to bear the yoke in their youth.
If you want to live a soft life in your youth, then you are not ready to rule.
Ruling is hard work, and it is only the diligent that will bear rule, as today’s memory verse tells us.
There is no easy road to success; the fact that a fellow was born by a successful person does not mean that the person will succeed in life.
If you are a youth and you want to reign in life, shun laziness. You must also remember your creator in the days of your youth before the difficult days come (Ecclesiastes 12:1).
You don’t own your life; take up your cross and follow Jesus so that it can be well with you all the days of your life.
Those who rule and reign in life are those who are diligent.
OPEN HEAVEN 23 MAY 2025 HYMN 33:
GUIDE ME, O THOU GREAT JEHOVAH!
1 Guide me, O my great Redeemer,
pilgrim through this barren land;
I am weak, but you are mighty;
hold me with your powerful hand.
Bread of heaven, bread of heaven,
feed me now and evermore,
feed me now and evermore.
2 Open now the crystal fountain,
where the healing waters flow.
Let the fire and cloudy pillar
lead me all my journey through.
Strong Deliverer, strong Deliverer,
ever be my strength and shield,
ever be my strength and shield.
3 When I tread the verge of Jordan,
bid my anxious fears subside.
Death of death, and hell’s Destruction,
land me safe on Canaan’s side.
Songs of praises, songs of praises
I will ever sing to you,
I will ever sing to you.
OPEN HEAVEN 23 MAY 2025 BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Nehemiah 8-10
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