Hey there, and welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread.

Our reading titled Eternal Legacy was written by Tim Gustafson.

As Dust Bowl sandstorms ravaged the United States during the Great Depression,

John Milburn Davis, a resident of

Hiawatha, Kansas, decided to make a name for himself. A self-made millionaire,

with no children, Davis might have invested in charity or economic development. Instead,

at great expense, he commissioned 11 life-sized statues of himself and his deceased wife to stand in the local

cemetery. They hate me in Kansas, Davis told journalist Ernie Pyle. Local residents wanted him to fund the

construction of public facilities like a hospital, swimming pool, or park. Yet, all he said was,

it's my money, and I spend it the way I please.

King Solomon, the wealthiest man of his day, wrote, whoever loves money never has enough.

And as goods increase, so do those who consume them. Solomon had grown keenly aware of the corrupting tendencies of wealth.

The Apostle Paul also understood the temptation of wealth and chose to invest his life in obedience to

Jesus. Awaiting execution in a Roman prison, he wrote triumphantly,

I am already being poured out like a drink offering. I have finished the race.

I have kept the faith. What lasts isn't what we chisel in stone or hoard for ourselves.

It's what we give out of love for each other and for him, the one who shows us how to love.

Today's Our Daily Bread Devotional Scripture reading is from Ecclesiastes

chapter 5, verses 8 through 15.

If you see the poor oppressed in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be

surprised at such things. For one official is eyed by a higher one, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things. For one official

is eyed by a higher one, and over them both are others higher still. The increase from the land

...