"Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever....All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full....Is there anything of which one can say, 'Look! This is something new'? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time." (From Ecclesiastes 1)
For 12 days in every quarter I am in Ecclesiastes. Maybe you can take the journey with me.
Oil, gasoline, nuclear power, microwaves, all, "was here already, long ago...." Man just had to discover it all. Be careful of the overuse of the word "creative," as in "that person is very creative." They created nothing; they rather discovered something. Maybe the word "invention" should be replaced with "discovered."
"Generations come and generations go," is another way of expressing, "All glory is fleeting," which is from the Latin, "Thus passes the glory of the world." Most live, however, with the philosophy, "This will never end"------------- but it does.
Ecclesiastes is an interesting book. It is the last of Solomon's writings. The young, witty, full- of-wisdom king who eventually got "involved" with thousands of women and embraced their gods, somewhere along the line came to the conclusions of Ecclesiastes. It seems to me that Solomon had a "conversion." Maybe his experience was similar to that of Jacob, who, at the end of his life, was found to, "worship, leaning on...his staff" (Hebrews 11). Jacob had run out of clever schemes, could no longer take anything, "....from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow" (Genesis 48). I wonder if there is a depth of worship which comes only when as was said of the prodigal, "when he came to himself." A friend of mine said to me yesterday that he was no longer ambitious as he once was. He now was content to "allow" the Lord Jesus to do Hill purposes. Some times we just have to be "worn out" to fully surrender to Jesus.
You and I know that, "vanity of vanities," and, "Meaningless! Meaningless!" is the only conclusion one can come to about life apart from Jesus. Jesus is our "Meaning." We have all had our Solomon and Jacob "moments," when we knew best. I just pray for us all that we have our Solomon and Jacob "conclusions." Without Jesus Christ with/in you and me, we ourselves are, "Vanity of vanities," and, "Meaningless! Meaningless!" Yet in Jesus, we are, "the righteousness of God in Him."
Father, in Jesus' Name, I concur with, "the preacher." Apart from You, there is nothingness. In You, there is everything-ness. Amen.
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A special thank you for those who are helping with our upcoming Mission in Germany.
For 12 days in every quarter I am in Ecclesiastes. Maybe you can take the journey with me.
Oil, gasoline, nuclear power, microwaves, all, "was here already, long ago...." Man just had to discover it all. Be careful of the overuse of the word "creative," as in "that person is very creative." They created nothing; they rather discovered something. Maybe the word "invention" should be replaced with "discovered."
"Generations come and generations go," is another way of expressing, "All glory is fleeting," which is from the Latin, "Thus passes the glory of the world." Most live, however, with the philosophy, "This will never end"------------- but it does.
Ecclesiastes is an interesting book. It is the last of Solomon's writings. The young, witty, full- of-wisdom king who eventually got "involved" with thousands of women and embraced their gods, somewhere along the line came to the conclusions of Ecclesiastes. It seems to me that Solomon had a "conversion." Maybe his experience was similar to that of Jacob, who, at the end of his life, was found to, "worship, leaning on...his staff" (Hebrews 11). Jacob had run out of clever schemes, could no longer take anything, "....from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow" (Genesis 48). I wonder if there is a depth of worship which comes only when as was said of the prodigal, "when he came to himself." A friend of mine said to me yesterday that he was no longer ambitious as he once was. He now was content to "allow" the Lord Jesus to do Hill purposes. Some times we just have to be "worn out" to fully surrender to Jesus.
You and I know that, "vanity of vanities," and, "Meaningless! Meaningless!" is the only conclusion one can come to about life apart from Jesus. Jesus is our "Meaning." We have all had our Solomon and Jacob "moments," when we knew best. I just pray for us all that we have our Solomon and Jacob "conclusions." Without Jesus Christ with/in you and me, we ourselves are, "Vanity of vanities," and, "Meaningless! Meaningless!" Yet in Jesus, we are, "the righteousness of God in Him."
Father, in Jesus' Name, I concur with, "the preacher." Apart from You, there is nothingness. In You, there is everything-ness. Amen.
***************************
A special thank you for those who are helping with our upcoming Mission in Germany.
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
Hebrews 12:2
Hebrews 12:2
