hi and thanks for joining us for another encouragement from the Our Daily Bread devotional are reading title thankful for Monday was written by pofung Chia
 I used to dread Mondays sometimes when I got off the train to head to a previous job I'd sit at the station for a while trying to delay reaching the building if only for a few minutes my heart would be fast as I worried over meeting the deadlines and managing the moods of a temperamental boss for some of us it can be especially difficult to start another dreary work week we may be feeling overwhelmed or unappreciated in our job in Ecclesiastes to King Solomon describe the toil of work when he wrote what do people get for all the Toil and anxious driving with which they labor Under the Sun all their days their work is grief and pain
 while the wise King didn't give us a cure-all for making work less stressful or more rewarding he did offer us a change in perspective no matter how difficult our work is he encourages us to find satisfaction in it with God's help perhaps it will come as a holy spirit enables us to display christ-like character or as we hear from someone who's been blessed through our service or as we remember the wisdom God provided to deal with a difficult situation though our work may be difficult our faithful God is there with his presence and power can light up even gloomy days with his help we can be thankful for Monday
 today's our daily bread devotional scripture reading is from Ecclesiastes chapter 2 verses 17 through 25
 so I hated life because the work that is done under the sun was Grievous to me all of it is meaningless a chasing after the wind I hate it all the things I had toiled for under the sun because I must leave them to the one who comes after me and who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil and to which I have poured my effort and skill Under the Sun this too is meaningless so my heart began to despair over all my toilsome Labour Under the Sun for a person may labor with wisdom knowledge and skill and then they must leave all they owned to another who is not toil for it this too is meaningless and a great Misfortune what do people get for all the Toil and anxious driving with which they labor under the sun
 all their days their work is grief and pain even at night their minds do not rest this too is meaningless
 a person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own soil this to I see is from the hand of God for without him who can eat or find enjoyment
let's pray
 faithful God help us to see the good you're enabling us to accomplish do our work today maybe work with a special awareness of our purpose even when our work situation is challenging thank you Lord It's in Jesus name we pray amen thanks for listening today my name is Tony Collier and today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries