Box Top of the Puzzle - Ecclesiastes #10


Ecclesiastes 3:9-11

What profit has the worker from that in which he labors? I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.

This passage contains probably my two favorite phrases in Ecclesiastes: “He has made everything beautiful in its time,” and, “He has put eternity in their hearts.” Sometimes I forget that these phrases are said back-to-back and belong in the same verse! They take us back to creation, when God saw everything He created and declared it to be “good.” Also, to the end, with the creation of the New Jerusalem, with everything perfect and more beautiful than what is possible on earth (for example, gold isn’t clear here).

These phrases are easy to misunderstand and get out of context, because we want to see them fulfilled in the here and now. In other words, we don’t want to see small pieces of the puzzle, but the box top. Much like Adam and Eve, God communicated to them all they needed for daily life, but even that didn’t seem to be enough. They still desired their own knowledge of good and evil and to oversee their own lives. They sinned against the holy God, no longer obeyed Him and severed their relationship with Him. Thus, they no longer had a clear direction from God in their day-to-day lives. 

God has placed an innate knowledge of eternity in our hearts, and with that we see we have no clue about God’s perfect plan. Therefore, our hearts are dangerous to follow. Follow what God has revealed to us in His Scriptures. The central part of this plan is through His Son, His finished work on the cross, His resurrection from the dead, His soon return. With this plan, our sins can be forgiven, and we are able to spend eternity in Heaven with our Savior and Lord. We may not have the box top of the puzzle, but we have Jesus!

In Christ Alone,

Dan

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Baptist in a Pentecostal Wilderness (opinion alert)

Image
ow can a Baptist pastor lead his church to engage in vibrant ministry in a town full of Pentecostals? Even many of the heathens would picture a Pentecostal church as the one they would attend if they ever did. On top of that, I'm currently pastoring a church that has been in decline for more than a decade, and is still licking their wounds over a series of hellish protests by former members and guests (particularly at a business meeting almost a decade ago). Some of these former members and guests are related to many in town or at least are more popular than we are, so the church has developed a bad reputation in town. Much of this reputation is undeserved, but some of it probably is. We have mercy ministries like a food pantry and clothing closet, but they don't seem to reach this community as well as we would desire. Many in town want the church to die, and if things continue to go the way they have we eventually will. When I have these thoughts of discouragement, I stand on ...
Read more

Is Preaching a Tiring Task? (opinion alert)

Image
  hat a privilege I had to attend a wonderful one day conference centered on expository preaching, the Priority of Preaching conference sponsored by Oklahoma Baptists. And at a location within an hour from my house! It seemed like over 500 men were there learning, getting a checkup, maybe critiquing the presenters, maybe all of the above? Anyway, I didn't quite know what to expect, but I was flabbergasted to see that many in attendance! And all ages of grown men, it brings hope! I'll be spending today going through my notes of the event and applying them to my weekly preparation. I hemmed and hawed about going, thinking it wouldn't be much of a help. I already preach expositionally, there are other areas in ministry where (I think) I could use more help, and it's, seemingly, the area hardly anyone in the congregation cares about.  Then generally, it's sort of strange a conference like this even happens. Preaching is often seen as a expectation of the old-timers and ...
Read more