September 2, 2023
“Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end” (Ecclesiastes 3:11 NLT). King Solomon was the writer of Ecclesiastes. He observed the beauty of how God had assigned everything a
September 2, 2021
WE LONG FOR THE ETERNAL King Solomon was the writer of Ecclesiastes. He observed the beauty of how God had assigned everything a season and how these things seemed to repeat over time. Yet, he also observed that God had put an eternal longing in man’s heart, so that he wanted to know and experience
September 2, 2020
WE LONG FOR THE ETERNAL King Solomon was the writer of Ecclesiastes. He observed the beauty of how God had assigned everything a season and how these things seemed to repeat over time. Yet, he also observed that God had put an eternal longing in man’s heart that wanted to know and experience more
September 2, 2016
Every time I read this verse, I hear The Byrds singing “Turn, Turn, Turn” in my head. Yet, this passage is more than the inspiration for a 60s song. It is a keen observation on life “under the sun.” As the writer, Solomon, struggled with a search for meaning in life, he observed that everything has a “season” and a “time.” There is an appointed start and finish “time,” and there is a length of time between the beginning and end of a “season.” Just as the sun, moon and earth move through times and seasons set by an unseen hand, so the times and seasons of humanity seem similarly set. Solomon concluded that it is best to just “be joyful and to do good” (Eccl.3:12) in every season, since we have no control over the times. In other words, make the best of things as they are, knowing as the Persian poets have said, “This too shall pass.” Yet, Solomon’s observations were necessarily limited to life “under the sun.” His wisdom did not take into account the larger arc of time that began at creation and will end with the return of Christ, the resurrection of the dead, and the judgment. Those who have heard this revelation from “beyond the sun” are able to do more than just make the best of things. They are able to hope for better things to come because of Jesus.
September 2, 2015
King Solomon was the writer of Ecclesiastes. He observed the beauty of how God had assigned everything a season and how these things seemed to repeat over time. Yet, he also observed that God had put an eternal longing in man’s heart that wanted to know and experience more than just what his season on earth allowed. This “eternity” that God put in humanity’s heart makes us unique in creation. We long for that which will last. We long for ultimate meaning and purpose. We long for God. Solomon found that everything “under the sun” was “vanity” (empty, meaningless). Why? Because we long for that which is beyond the sun. We long for the Eternal One. As Pascal said, “There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.”