Nothing New

Solomon was wiser than any of the kings who ruled in Jerusalem before him. He had greater wisdom and knowledge than any of them. He was a man who devoted himself to search for understanding and to explore by wisdom everything being done under heaven. He was a powerful and highly intellectual man. When he points out ‘red flags’ it’s something worth paying attention to. He does not wish on anyone what happened to him, so he wrote Ecclesiastes and Proverbs.

The picture Solomon is painting and that he wants his readers to grasp is the idea that there is more to life than, sleeping, waking up, doing, and repeating the cycle till we cease to exist. He is saying, “learn from me, I was there, I had all a man could dream of. I was the best in my field. I achieved it all, but no sooner had I done that then I realised it’s all meaningless without the Lord.” There is an emptiness a vacuum in life, that cannot be satisfied by what evolves under the sun.

There is nothing new under the sun, but ‘Jesus, the Son’ ‘makes all things new’. That’s why He came and died, so that in Him we find life and a life of abundance. So, we must not let the same old stuff of life distract us from that. If we’ve drifted away, Jesus is a redeemer, and He says, “Come … and I will give you rest.”

It’s only in Jesus, the Son, that our cup runs over, but ‘under the sun’, or in the world, we only get a bottomless cup which can never be satisfied. No matter how high we go, or how low we go, or how hard we search, if it doesn’t lead to living a life worthy of the gospel, you will get ‘there’ and then realise there is more to life than getting ‘there.’ ‘For in Him we live and move and exist’. Deuteronomy 20:30 puts it clearly, ‘and that you may love the LORD your God, obey Him, and hold fast to Him. For He is your life, and He will prolong your life’.

Remember, it’s not how far we get, but how closely we walk with Jesus, the Son. No matter what we do ‘under the sun’, it cannot compare to eternity. Let’s not allow the meaninglessness of life stop us from reaching eternity with ‘the Son’. Here are the words of the one who learned first-hand that pursuing this is like chasing the wind.

“That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty. God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad” (Ecclesiastes‬ ‭12:13‬-14).‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

Prayer: Dear Lord, our life is like a flower that grows quickly and then dies away (Job 14:2). Our life is like a shadow that is here for a short time and then is gone. I pray that my life will count. I pray I may be a God chaser and not a ‘wind chaser’ and when the curtain closes on me, I will have fulfilled my God-given-life -purpose on earth, in Jesus’ name, Amen.