The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
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.
(Eccl 1:1-9 KJV)
I have seen a few posts on Facebook this morning that ask us what we learned during the year 2020. To be honest: I cannot think of one thing that I learned that was new. Some of the things that I already knew were reinforced this last year. But, there really is nothing new under the sun. It's been pretty much the same stuff since the beginning of time.
As I look back over the year 2020, unlike a lot of people, I do not see a horrible year. I have had many that could be considered much worse and most of you probably did too if you look back further than 2020. The corrupt politicians have always been there. Being lied to by the government, the media, as well as others seems to have gotten a bit worse; but, then again maybe it's just because our eyes have seen enough of it and finally recognize it for what it is and always has been. Greed, selfishness, anger, hate, disrespect, slothfulness, lack of integrity, lack of empathy: they have also always been here. Disease has always been here, as well, and the earth keeps spinning.
But, in 2020, there was also the other side of the coin. There was love. There was generosity. There was self-sacrifice by many. These are good things. 2020 wasn't really so bad and if we expect 2021 to be much different than we are probably in for a shock. There is nothing new under the sun. There are good things and things that are not so good under the sun.
As we sit around complaining about our lot in life, remember that we were never promised that life would be without tribulations. We were never promised a rose garden. We were promised the Kingdom of God. Trials and tribulations exist here on earth. They always have. They always will until the Lord comes to take us home. In him alone lies our hope. In Christ alone is our peace. Through him we are heirs of salvation. We can and should be rejoicing in that!
"The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."
(Romans 8:16-18)
The sufferings of this time are really not enough for us to dwell in darkness, in the closed closets of our mind. For "....ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light." (1 Pet 2:9)
Have a blessed new year and rejoice for every day that the Lord has provided you with! Rejoice and live life in the light of Christ!
God's Peace - Pr. J.
