Chasing the Sun

I've been thinking lately about how many things in this life amount to nothing. Ecclesiastes 1:14 says,

"I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind."

This was true thousands of years ago when these words were written, and it remains true today. Everything of this world is meaningless, perishing, except the three things eternal: God, His word, and the souls of men. Everything else fades, breaks or burns. So why do we spend so much time investing in these things?

Chasing the wind. An interesting concept. It is used nine times throughout the first half of Ecclesiastes. I try to imagine what that looks like: futile, silly. A man running in circles, trying to catch something more elusive than a wild animal. You can't catch the wind, you can't keep it.

The Lord also showed me an image of this same concept on my way to Washington state this last December. I was flying west at sunset and it was gorgeous. Words could never do justice to its beauty. It was a special sunset for two reasons. First, I had a unique perspective watching it from the sky instead of the ground. Truly, it felt heavenly watching it over a bed of clouds. And second, it was the longest sunset I've ever witnessed, because as we flew west, we followed its path, prolonging its setting. But you can't outrun the sun, you cannot catch it.

Though chasing the sun was lovely, it was futile. Just another reminder that in this life we should never compromise the significant, the sacred, for the lovely. After all, beauty is fleeting (Proverbs 31:30), just like the sun.

God created all things lovely and admirable, because He is a God who values beauty. Being made in His image, so do we. I sure do; it's one of my top values. I love all things beautiful, creative, lovely, anything that moves me to awe.

In his letter to the Romans, Paul expresses a warning we all should heed:

"They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen."

Romans 1:25

He goes on to write that because of this, God handed these men over to their "shameful lusts." No matter how beautiful, we should always give our praise and glory to the Creator, not the created, because a creation is only as lovely as its Creator.

So on my journey west, we chased the sun on top of the clouds for at least an hour. But it was meaningless, because we never caught up, and that beautiful sun eventually gave way to darkness.

Word

The power of words has been on my mind for weeks now. Proverbs 18:21 says,

"Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
and those who love it will eat its fruits."

With our words we can bring life or death. I've seen it. I've felt it. I know what it is to be built up, to be offered life through the spoken and written word. I also know what it is to be torn down by them.

We are all given this power, this gift, this weapon. With great power comes great responsibility. Proverbs 12:18 says,

"There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts,
but the tongue of the wise brings healing."

We can either use words as a weapon to destroy life, or as medicine to restore it. It's a choice. There is great power in words to impact life. How will we use them?

This is nothing new. In fact, it's as old as creation. God used words to bring all things into existence, to lay the foundations of everything we know. Take a look at the beginning:

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep...And God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light."
Genesis 1:1-2a, 3

God created by means of speech. There was darkness, lack of light, so he said 'Let there be light,' and there was. That's how powerful words are. God created something out of nothing using only His words. He continues to create, forming water, land, sky, vegetation, the sun, moon and stars, seasons, time, all creatures, including man, by speaking.

"And God said..." Genesis 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26.

How interesting that this is the first glimpse we are given of our Creator. What does God do next? He blesses man and woman.

"And God blessed them. And God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.'"
Genesis 1:28

Take a closer look. This is a record of the first thing God says to Adam and Eve: a blessing. Life! Be fruitful and multiply, bring life and continue His work.

John 1 mirrors Genesis 1.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men...And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."
John 1:1-4, 14

Jesus is the Word. Let that sink in a minute.

He was in the beginning.

Through Him all things were created.

In Him is life.

He became flesh and dwelt among us.

The living Word, come to bring life to a dying race.

For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. Colossians 1:19

Words are heavy. Powerful. Full of life. Or full of death. Jesus came so that we might have abundant life:

"I came that they may have life and have it abundantly."
John 10:10

Being made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), we too are given words; let us use them also in His image, to bring life.

His Treasured Possession

I was overwhelmed by Truth this morning in my time with the Lord, and wanted to share it with you all.

"For the sake of his great name the LORD will not reject his people, because the LORD was pleased to make you his own."
1 Samuel 12:22

Ah! Such beautiful truth. It is for His sake, His glory, by His nature, character and goodness that the Lord does this. He does not reject, but rescues. He does not abandon, but redeems.

Three treasures of gold finish this verse. I'll work backwards. First, I am His. I belong to Him. He calls me His own. I am His daughter. Second, He made me His own. It was intentional, full of purpose and grace. It required thought, decision and work on His part. It was by choice. And third, He was pleased by this. It delighted Him, brought Him pleasure.

How do I know this? Because my Heavenly Father supports this, repeats it over and over again in His word. He knew we would need the reminder. I do.

He says in Ephesians 1:5,

"He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will"

Predestined. Adopted. Son. Daughter. Pleasure. Will. Truth. There is no mistaking, no misunderstanding this, no reading between the lines. He planned this before time started ticking, before it even existed. Adoption is a choice; there are no accidental adoptions. And all this is in accordance with His pleasure and will.

Elsewhere in 1 Peter 2:9 He says,

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."

Chosen. Royal. Holy. Belonging. Not only adopted, chosen. Not into just any family, but a royal one. Made holy and belonging to God. And our response? If only it would always be to declare His praises! For He has called us out of darkness and into His wonderful light!

"For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves"
Colossians 1:13

And again, in Deuteronomy 7:6

"For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. "

Holy. Chosen. His. Treasured. Possession. I needn't go on. Let that sink in.

Why do I doubt? Why do I question? Why do I fear? Why do I live out of anything other than the identity given to me through the blood, sweat and tears of Jesus Christ?

Because I have a selfish enemy.

"Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."

This is no suggestion, it is a command. Be self-controlled and alert. Be on guard. We have been given a precious identity, adopted into the royal family as sons and daughters of the King of Kings. It cannot be taken away, but it sure can be assaulted. But our God has provided protection and defense for this, if only we would choose to put on the full armor of God. It is with the shield of faith we "extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one" (Ephesians 6:16).

The Word of the Lord stands forever. Amen.