by Charles Bertelsmeier
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Read Ecclesiastes 1:1–11
Although I can remember the names and a little about the lives of my grandparents, I would struggle to tell you the names of all my great-grandparents or anything about their lives.
Then I think about my grandchildren and realise they know virtually nothing about my parents and previous generations. I’m sure we could all agree with the sentiment expressed in today’s verse.
We will spend today and the next four days looking at the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes. Before you open your calendar app and set a reminder to resume reading LCA devotions next Saturday and skip these five days, let me encourage you to persevere. God has put every book of the Bible there for a reason and has a message for us. I pray that God has a message for you in what he gives me to write. You may also like to read the whole book before we proceed with these devotions.
The first verse of this book indicates that the author is King Solomon. God blessed King Solomon to be one of the wisest people in history. He is also believed to be the author of the biblical book Song of Songs and to have collected many proverbs.
In Ecclesiastes, the author conducts a series of scientific experiments to find the meaning of life. In reflecting on this, I think we are all doing the same, but probably not as scientifically as Solomon. As young children, we are absorbed in play. As teenagers, we are trying to discover who we are. As young adults, we seek acceptance through our friendship circles and employment. Then, we aim to perpetuate our identity through our children, moving on to get ourselves financially secure and finally retiring to contemplate what we have achieved with our lives. Maybe we will even write up our life stories to perpetuate our legacies.
Solomon tries a range of activities to find meaning and fulfilment but comes up empty each time. Most of these things are things we also do to try to discover meaning and purpose. Spoiler alert: The conclusion Solomon comes to is that we only find that meaning and purpose through our relationship with God and by surrendering our lives to the plans he has for us.
Most of us, me included, didn’t want to hear that when we were younger and tried looking elsewhere. I thank God he didn’t give up on me and gently led me to accept Solomon’s conclusion.
Heavenly Father, I accept that life without you is meaningless. Please help me to listen to your Spirit as we dive into the Book of Ecclesiastes and to find meaning and purpose in your plans for us. Amen.
Charles is a retired engineer who has worked on communications projects for the air force, army and navy. He lives in a retirement village in the outer north-western suburbs of Sydney with his wife, Diane. Together, they have four children and eight grandchildren, all of whom they love spending time with. Charles keeps busy caring for their pot plants and a community vegetable garden, researching his family history and volunteering at LifeWay Lutheran Church.
King of Day and Night 3rd Wednesday in Advent Read: Zechariah 14:6-9 “It will be a unique day, without daytime or nighttime – a day known to the Lord. When evening comes, there will be light.” Zechariah 14:7 (NIV)
I have always been fascinated by the countries close to the North Pole (Arctic Circle). Finland and Greenland are countries where the amount of sunlight varies greatly depending on the time of the year. In northern Finland they experience the phenomenon of the Midnight Sun, where the sun doesn’t set for months. The sun just circles around the sky all day and night. In winter, this region experiences polar nights with very little or no sunlight. For us in Australia, this is all very foreign. We have daylight saving in summer, but nothing compared to this. What is the passage in Zechariah talking about then?
Zechariah was a prophet and a priest around 520 BCE. He describes a very unique day, some even think it refers to the end times, which has both light and darkness leading to the establishment of God’s Kingdom. It is a time when God’s power and presence is evident, even though the natural order of things is confused. But mostly it shows that God has the sovereign power over all things, including the day and the night. If God can rule over the day and the night and have sovereign power over all things, wouldn’t it be natural for God to rule as a King over the world?
But no, God chose to be a loving God ruling with grace and forgiveness. He sent His Son to earth at Christmas to bring peace to the earth. He didn’t want to come with horns and fanfare, changing the orbit of the earth, or making time stand still. Rather He had the Son of God, the light of the world, the Messiah, the Saviour, come in quietness and humility to a young couple. This is the God I want in my life.
A God who is an all-powerful Sovereign ruler, but chooses to rule with grace, love and peace. He brought light to the world in a little baby. My God is King of the World but knows my name! Prayer: Mighty God. You are ruler of the world, yet you care for me. You know my name and hear my prayers. Thank you for being a God that I can talk to and for bringing your Son to be my Saviour. Amen.
3rd Tuesday in Advent Read: Micah 7:7-9 “Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light.” Micah 7:8b (NIV)
‘The Hare boasts to the other animals about how fast he can run. He challenges them to a race and when none of them responds he taunts them that they are too scared even to try. When the Tortoise offers to race the Hare scoffs that he won’t waste his time racing the slowest creature in the world. Some of the animals laugh at this so the Hare agrees to a race. The Tortoise spends the week in training but continues to move very slowly and the other animals wonder if the race is a good idea. Nevertheless, there is a large crowd of animals gathered on the day of the race.’
‘The race starts and the Hare roars off. When he stops to look back, the Tortoise has barely crossed the starting line. The Hare taunts the Tortoise and decides to have a nap in the sun; he sleeps for so long that the Tortoise is able to overtake him. The animals cheer as the Tortoise nears the finishing tree and this wakes up the Hare. The Hare runs as fast as he can to catch up, but the Tortoise just makes it over the finish line in time. Sometimes slow and steady wins the race.’ This is one of Aesop’s fables which was believed to have been written during the 6th century BCE.
The fables were written to convey moral lessons. We can also apply this to God’s teachings. The world is fast paced and brags that it can supply everything that we need for a good life: gym membership, money, big house, e-bike, Tesla, etc. God offers the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control and eternal life in Heaven with a loving Saviour. God never rests. If we fall, He will help us up; if we are in a state of darkness and despair, God will be the light to bring relief to our souls. Let God who is our light and life be the steady influence in your life.
God’s way is the only way to win in the race of life! Prayer: Loving Lord, you are my light and life and in you I place all that I am and all that I have. May I always rely on you for everything I need for this life and beyond. Amen.
Revealer of Mysteries Read: Daniel 2:19-23 “He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him.” Daniel 2:22 (NIV)
If you have never read about King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, I would encourage you to read the whole of chapter 2 of Daniel. In a nutshell: King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and wanted it to be interpreted by his wise men and magicians, but rather than tell them the dream to interpret, he wanted them to tell him the dream. These wise men were meant to be in touch with the gods to be able to interpret. But they couldn’t. So, all the wise men in the kingdom were to be executed and cut in pieces – Daniel and his friends were included. Daniel prayed to the true God of Heaven for mercy and wisdom concerning the mystery and God came through for Daniel. Daniel praised and thanked God for His wisdom and for helping him and his friends.
“He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him.” (verse 22) Daniel then went to the King and told him the dream where there was a large statue made of many metals: head of gold, chest and arms of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, legs of iron and feet of iron and clay. This statue is destroyed by a stone that is not made of human hands and that becomes a mountain. Daniel then tells the King the meaning. The worldly empires (the statue) will rise and fall over generations until the ultimate establishment of God’s eternal Kingdom (the stone becoming a mountain).
Only the God of Heaven has any ability to reveal mysteries. “The king said to Daniel, ‘Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery.’” (verse 47) Throughout the Bible stories God shows His power that He is greater and stronger than anything or any other god. Only the light of goodness comes from Him. What an amazing God we have! Trust in the God of Heaven and earth – He knows everything! Prayer: God of wonder and light, thank you for revealing yourself to me as a God of love and light. Continue to work in and through me that others will be able to see your majesty. Amen