Already, we are fast approaching the end of 2015. Thinking about 2015, do you have regrets, things you would have liked to accomplish in 2015 but now in December realize you won't get them done by the end of the year?
Or are you looking forward to all the things with the coming of 2016? Are you looking forward to the challenges? Who will be the new president? Worried how the disintegration of society morally, spiritually will affect you, your families? That these things will worsen, leaving you confused, wondering what's next? Those who are 60 or older have already seen tremendous changes in not only technological advances, medicine and the like but what's accepted morally and spiritually in society and our churches.
Most consider Ecclesiastes 1:2-11 a gloomy take on the thought of the new when it says "Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun? One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever. The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose. The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits. All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again. All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us. There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after."
In our "wisdom," we assess those verses as not being truth, at least for today, pointing to the conveniences we enjoy as a result of the great advances made in __ (fill in the blank). We say, "look, we enjoy so much more than our great-grandparents: we have ___," because we either forget or don't see the truth that is right before us.
You see, Solomon wasn't a pessimistic, fatalistic man talking about there being no use in trying or doing anything. He wasn't telling us there's no use to try, everything's only gonna get worse, nothing ever changes, and the like. Remember? The Bible says Solomon was given by God wisdom and knowledge such as had never been before him and would never be any after. (2nd Chronicles 1:12)
Solomon was simply pointing out a timeless truth: It doesn't matter if (Lord tarrying) we end up with colonies on Mars, the nearest stars; we are able to diagnose better, or cure the deadliest disease or see the unimaginable; there will always be one generation succeeding the previous one, the sun goes down on schedule, the wind will blow, storms will come, rivers will run to the sea which will never be filled by them and there is truly no new thing under the sun for there has always been something "new" before us that quickly becomes of old and that there is NO remembrance of former things that are to come with or by those that come after and is evident in how we ignore the past lessons learned; both secular and Spiritually.
Religion on 12/09/2015