MONITE SIULAI 20, 2026

KOHELETI 9-12; PALOVEPI 1:1-7

The life of faith always begins with recognizing your need for wisdom.

Ko e mo’ui tui, ‘oku kamata’aki ho’o fakatokanga’i, ‘oku ke fiema’u ‘a e poto.

Habakkuk 2:4 says that "the righteous shall live by his faith." But what does that mean? What does a life of faith look like for a single adult? What does it look like for a married couple? What does a life of faith look like for a teenager or an elderly person? What does it look like at your work? What does a life of faith look like when it comes to sex and money? What does it look like when it comes to making decisions? What does a life of faith look like when you are suffering? What in the world is a life of faith?

Like many people, Luella loves Ecclesiastes for both its honesty and its wisdom. She tells people all the time to study their way through this wonderful book. The wisdom of Ecclesiastes perhaps shines brightest in its final paragraphs: 

The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil. 

(Eccl. 12:11-14)

The life of faith begins with recognizing your need for wisdom and recognizing that the wisdom you need is found in one place. Because of sin, wisdom is not natural for us. We have to humbly admit that, in our foolishness, we are a danger to ourselves. Notice the protective and life-shaping nature of true wisdom. Wisdom is like a goad. A goad is a long stick used to keep oxen moving straight when pulling a plow. Wisdom is also like a nail on which you can hang aspects of your life. We all need goads to keep us straight and nails on which to hang our decisions and actions. The good shepherd, in grace and in his wisdom, offers us both.

What does this wisdom tell us about the life of faith? First, the life of faith is shaped by the fear of the Lord. That means we do not allow any other thing to rule the thoughts and desires of our heart. Second, the life of faith commits to obeying God's commands, no matter what situations you find yourself in.

So run today to your good shepherd, confess your need for his wisdom, and cry out for the desire and strength to keep his commands. By grace, he will bless you with his goads and nails.

 SAPATE SIULAI 19, 2026

KOHELETI 5-8; FILIPAI 4:10-13

A life of gratitude and joy grows in the soil of contentment.

Ko e mo’ui hounga’iaa mo e fiefia ‘oku tupu ‘i he kelekele ‘o e mo’ui topono. 

I have a wonderfully blessed life, yet I still find reasons to complain. On this side of eternity grumbling seems to be the default language of the human community. There is a reason for this. Selfishness is in the DNA of sin. Sin causes us to put ourselves in the center of our world and make life all about us. Life gets reduced to our wants, our needs, and our feelings. And there is no end to the catalog of things we find dissatisfying. We complain about the weather, traffic, and waiting in line. We whine that there's nothing to eat, nothing worth watching, and too much to do. We're bored, we don't feel well, and everything costs too much. We're tired of dealing with our kids, our parents, our spouses, and our churches. A life of complaint is a life shrunken to the size of one person. It's a life of entitlement. It's God-forgetful. This life robs you of your joy. Complaint crushes glad-hearted worship. God did not design us to be lifelong complainers.

Note the Preacher's take on contentment:

Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil-this is the gift of God. For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart. (Eccl. 5:18-20)

Contentment is not the product of an affluent and easy life. This passage talks about enjoyment both in toil and in wealth. Contentment depends not on your situation but on the heart that you bring to each situation. Fabulously wealthy  people complain. Poor people complain. People in between complain. Joy in labor is possible only when you are thankful that God has provided you with a job and the ability to work. Toil is a good gift from God, as is every opportunity I get to enjoy the fruit of my labor. Every day of my life is a gift from God, and every day is filled with more gifts from him.

This passage teaches us one more important thing. Contentment itself is a gift from God. It's not natural for sinners to be content. When I'm content, the joy in my heart protects me from finding things to grumble about. Are you content? Confess your discontentment, and God will give you grace for the struggle.

 TOKONAKI SIULAI 18, 2026

KOHELETI 1-4; FILIPAI 3:1-11

A devastating emptiness of life results when you remove God from your journey on this side of eternity.

Ko e maha ‘ango’ango ‘a e mo’ui, ko e ola ‘o hono tu’usi ‘a e ‘Otua mei ho’o fononga ‘i he kauvai ko eni ‘o ‘itaniti.

No other book of the Bible begins as Ecclesiastes does. We are given no introduction, but are immediately thrown into a discouraging world of endlessly repeating vanity:

Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher,

vanity of vanities! All is vanity.

What does man gain by all the toil

at which he toils under the sun?

A generation goes, and a generation comes,

but the earth remains forever.

The sun rises, and the sun goes down,

and hastens to the place where it rises.

The wind blows to the south

and goes around to the north;

around and around goes the wind,

and on its circuits the wind returns.

All streams run to the sea,

but the sea is not full;

to the place where the streams flow,

there they flow again.

All things are full of weariness;

a man cannot utter it;

the eye is not satisfied with seeing,

nor the ear filled with hearing.

What has been is what will be,

and what has been done is what will be done,

and there is nothing new under the sun. (Eccl. 1:2-9)

It is as though the Preacher were standing in the middle of the cosmos and screaming. "What is all of this about? There has to be more to my life than this. What in the world am I missing?" In this way, Ecclesiastes is a huge comfort to the thousands of people who have stood in the middle of their lives and asked the same questions. As the Bible so often does in its honesty about the struggles of life on this side of eternity, Ecclesiastes welcomes the reader to be honest with God about the seeming meaninglessness of life.

Though it might seem that these verses are communicating meaningless hopelessness, the Preacher's aim is more profound. To get his deeper point, you have to understand the phrase "under the sun." What does he mean when he says that life is vain "under the sun"? This phrase reinforces the central message not only of Ecclesiastes, but of the entire word of God. It is impossible to find a life of unshakable identity, meaning, purpose, contentment, and joy if you look only horizontally. Nothing in the world God created has the power to give you the satisfaction and joy of heart that every human longs for. Everything in life will fail you. Imperfect people, places, and things can't give you what you long for.

Where is life to be found? Above the sun; that is, in God alone. Knowing him and being known by him give our lives meaning and purpose. Having a relationship with him gives even the most menial tasks purpose and dignity. It is only in, with, and through him that contentment is possible and our hearts are satisfied. By grace we can rise above the vanity. God not only exists, but he has made himself known and taken us as his own. That changes everything. 

 FALAITE SIULAI 17, 2026

PALOVEPI 30-31; 1 PITA 3:1-6

We should be quick to be grateful for and give honor to women whose lives picture what it means to fear the Lord.

‘Oku taau ke tau fakalangilangi’i mo fakahounga’i ‘a e si’i kau fefine fita ‘oku nau ‘omi ‘a e ‘ata ‘o e ‘apasia ‘Otuaa.

Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,

but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

Give her of the fruit of her hands,

and let her works praise her in the gates. (Prov. 31:30-31)

When you read through the book of Proverbs, it might seem as though it addresses a cast of male characters. But then you get to its final chapter. Proverbs gives special time and attention to the character and accomplishments of an excellent woman, that is, one whose whole life is shaped by her awe of God.

The verses of this portrait of the godly woman follow the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, as though the writer wants to reinforce the wide-ranging nature of her gifts, character, and accomplishments. In so doing, Proverbs 31 speaks to present cultural mistakes when it comes to women. The culture around us often gets womanhood all wrong. If you examine the websites of female social media influencers, the dominant theme is that physical beauty is everything. And, in fact, it is even worse than that. Our culture's definition of physical beauty is not naturally attainable. By today's definition, you can become truly beautiful only with the help of chemical injections and surgery. So many young girls are depressed, and some even suicidal, because they have no way of reaching this beauty standard.

But the church doesn't always get the definition of beauty right either. If there is any place where godly women should receive "praise in the gates," it is in the church. We are to recognize gifted and accomplished women, because we know that God chose them to be examples of what his grace can do. We see the work of the Spirit in women's lives, and we see in them what God's gifts can accomplish. Proverbs 31 argues that in God's economy we need these women, and we should be quick to rise and thank God for their presence and contributions to the health of the community of faith.

I have spent half a century married to a woman who fears the Lord. She has a legacy of accomplishments inside and outside of the home. She is a comforter and mentor to younger women and has been the most consistent spiritual influence in my life. Proverbs reminds us that women like my wife are worthy of our corporate gratitude and public praise. We should always remember that women who fear the Lord are good gifts to the church and to the world.

 TU’APULELULU SIULAI 16, 2026

PALOVEPI 27-29; ‘EFESO 2:1-10

There isn't a person alive who doesn't need God's rescuing, forgiving, empowering, transforming, and delivering grace.

‘Oku ‘ikai ke ‘i ai ha tokotaha mo’ui ‘oku ‘ikai te ne fiema’u ke fakahaofi, fakamolemole’i, fakaivia, liliu ‘e he fu’u kelesi fakatau’ataina ‘a e ‘Otua.

The writers of Proverbs often use graphic word pictures to make important gospel points. Consider how the following argues for the power of God's grace:

Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle

along with crushed grain,

yet his folly will not depart from him. (Prov. 27:22)

Imagine that we are in my kitchen, and on my counter stands a mortar and pestle, made of stone. You watch me put a few ounces of wheat grains into the mortar and begin to pound and grind them with the pestle. After a few minutes of physical exertion, I invite you to look into the mortar. What will you see? You will still see wheat. It may have changed its shape and become a fine powder, but it will still be 100 percent wheat, just as it was when it was a whole grain. You could watch me pound on that wheat for ten days, but it would still be wheat, because wheatness is its fundamental nature and all the pounding in the world will not change it.

So it is with every fool ever born-and that includes all of us--because sin reduces all of us to fools. Since foolishness (sin) is a matter of nature and not just behavior, external manipulation will not change us at the level of the true nature of our hearts. God's law is important, but rigid enforcement of his law alone will not change the character of our hearts. Education cannot change our nature. Threats of consequences have no power to change our hearts. Changes of situation and location do not address what is foundationally wrong with us. If our sin were just about behavior, then behavioral control and retraining would take care of our problem. This proverb is in the Bible to help us understand that nothing has the power to address the deepest of human problems-except the grace of the Savior. If any of the external forces I mentioned had the power to change the fundamental composition of our hearts, then Jesus would not have had to come.

Rather than discourage you, this proverb should cause you to reflect with gratitude on the amazing gift of the glorious grace of Jesus. God, in love, refused to leave us in our natural state. He had a plan to give us the help that he alone could give. Jesus's life, death, and resurrection offer us the promise of real change, which reaches the very character of our hearts.

The mortar and pestle teach us that external forces cannot change us, and this is why we daily seek and celebrate the grace of Jesus. He alone breaks the power of sin and sets the captive free. Celebrate his grace today.

 PULELULU SIULAI 15, 2026

PALOVEPI 24-26; LOMA 12:9-21

If your heart has been softened by God's grace, you will find no joy in anyone's fall - even an enemy's.

Kapau kuo fakamolū ho loto ‘e he kelesi ‘a e ‘Otua, ‘e ‘ikai te ke fiefia ‘o ka tō ha taha - ‘o a’u pe ki ho filii.

If you're a regular user of social media, you have witnessed too much curiosity, interest, and enjoyment in someone else's fall. Posts about the good someone has done receive little interest, but if the news breaks that a well-known Christian leader has fallen, it doesn't take long for hundreds of people to jump on the controversy. We want to know what happened, when it happened, and how it happened. We want the inside details about this person's life. We are quick to give our opinion about the person's character, what he did, and how it was handled. We'll go back to Twitter or Facebook, searching to see whether more has been uncovered. We want to know what other people are saying, and we contemplate adding our own two cents' worth. All of this chatter by people who don't know the person involved and have no ability to help is fueled by a perverse interest, and, yes, a delight in the falls and failures of others. We have particular interest and enthusiasm when the person who has fallen is part of a tribe other than our own. But Proverbs 24:17-18 warns:

Do not rejoice when your enemy falls,

and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles,

lest the LORD see it and be displeased,

and turn away his anger from him.

This is not just a social media problem, although social media makes this piling-on dynamic much easier. Digital delight in another's sin and digital gossip are sins of the heart before they are words typed on a screen. When it comes to how we should respond to the fall of another person, even one whom we would consider an enemy of what is right and true, God himself is our model. God, who is perfectly holy in every way and all of the time and who has never compromised his righteous standard, says this about how he views the death of a wicked person:

Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death

of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn

back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel? (Ezek. 33:11)

God never takes pleasure when a wicked person dies. He responds to the ultimate fall of a person with tenderhearted grace and mercy. He does not delight in the details of anyone's sin. He finds no pleasure in the fact that someone has finally gotten what he deserves. No, he pleads that the wicked would turn from their ways and find his forgiveness and transforming power. Do we model the heart of God? Have our hearts been made tender by his grace? No one gives grace better than one whose heart and life have been changed by its transforming power.

May we not delight in another's fall. With broken hearts, may we pray for an outpouring of God's rescuing grace for ourselves and anyone who has fallen. And may God work in our hearts so that we'll find greater delight in what is good than in what is evil.

 TUSITE SIULAI 14, 2026

PALOVEPI 22-23; ‘EFESO 6:1-4 

The ultimate goal of parenting is not behavior management. It is heart realignment.

Ko e kaveinga taupotu taha ‘o e tauhi fanau, ‘oku ‘ikai ko hono pule’i ‘a e to’onga mo’ui, ka ko hono fakatonutonu ‘o e loto ‘o e fanau.

So much of what we need to know and understand about the task of parenting

is captured in this passage from Proverbs 22:15:

Folly is bound up in the heart of a child,

but the rod of discipline drives it far from him.

This short proverb is helpful in many amazing ways. Consider the following:

1. When God calls you to parent, you become his tool in the formation of a child he made in his image. This passage makes it clear that what is at stake in parenting is bigger than whether a child will do well at school, get a good job, or have a happy married life. No, what is at stake is the heart of the child. Will your child be rescued from his or her foolishness and live a life shaped by the fear of the Lord?

2. The root problem with your children is not their misbehavior but the condition of their heart. Disobedience, rebellion, and disrespect stem from a heart condition: foolishness. A fool's world is upside down and inside out. A fool looks at wisdom and sees foolishness, at truth and sees falsehood, and at right and sees wrong. This means that the little one whom you love so much is a natural danger to himself.

3. A well-designed system of clear rules and punishments will not address a child's deepest needs. The word discipline in this passage confuses many parents. Most parents think discipline is only about making sure children receive consequences for their wrong behavior. But the biblical picture of discipline is bigger than that. It includes loving instruction about what is important in life and helping your child view life from God's perspective. Biblical discipline provides constant gospel instruction that points children to the rescuing grace of Jesus.

4. You have no power at all to change the heart of your child. Because your child's problem in life is the heart, good parenting begins by humbly acknowledging that you can't give your child what he or she desperately needs. This means that you are never the change agent. Rather, you are an instrument in the hands of the one who has the power and the willingness to do in and for your child what you are unable to do.

5. The rod is a word picture for the importance of loving discipline of your children. You discipline your children not because they have made you mad, but because you love them. Loving discipline teaches them that sin has consequences and softens the heart to hear the gospel.

God meets parents with his rescuing and transforming grace. He works to change your heart so that you can become a tool of change in the heart of your child. You can have confidence that God is in you, with you, and for you as you help your child to understand that his or her hope in this life and the one to come is found only in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.