Worship for Today: Solomon's inspired message - Ecclesiastes.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Ecclesiastes 12:9-10,

 

"Not only was the Teacher wise, but also he imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true."

 

"What he wrote was upright and true." Perhaps this may have been helpful to have as an introduction to the book. It certainly is very fitting in the conclusion. I wish more folks would take this to heart and not dismiss this book as the ramblings of an old, discouraged and disillusioned man. The truths in this book are both stark and real. Solomon has taken us to where many refuse to go: the truth of the matter of this life. Those who misunderstand the book or are unwilling to accept its message owe Solomon an apology as they point to his shortcomings as king of Israel as cause for this book. Not that he didn't have his shortcomings, they are fully documented in the Scriptures. Solomon's life demonstrates, as does Abraham, Moses, his father, David and others, that faith does not a perfect man make - but makes him righteous in the sight of God.

 

God chose fit to raise up Solomon and equip him with an uncommon wisdom. As a man carried along by the Holy Spirit as he wrote this book (1 Peter 1:20-21), he tells us about the futility of "life under the sun". God clearly does not want us to be distracted by the trappings of this life. The analysis Solomon provides us of this life, without reference to what lies beyond it, reveals its futility, meaninglessness and emptiness. It is a message God wants us to know. Clearly, God wants us to focus on what lies beyond this life and the importance of how our choices in this life impact our lives in the next. This book points us to the view of the heroes of faith:

 

"All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them." Hebrews 11:13-16.

 

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: God answers prayer!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Ecclesiastes 11:3,

 

"If clouds are full of water, they pour rain upon the earth. Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls, there will it lie."

 

This verse strikes me from the perspective of whatever it is, it is what it is. If something is going to happen, it is going to happen the way it will. "Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls, there will it lie."

 

Is this the only perspective? Life viewed from the perspective of "life under the sun", the perspective Solomon speaks to in this short book, it seems so. It could lead to a somewhat fatalistic outlook on what we can expect in life. There is no control, no appeal, no alternative to what happens. "It is what it is." "What will be will be."

 

However, as we learn about God, there is an entirely different perspective. Reality is not just what we know from "life under the sun". Reality is much, much bigger. What we see, what we know, what we sense and perceive is only a fraction of all of reality. The existence of the spiritual realm is a universe of teeming reality, of which this life is just a fraction. The Scriptures are full of information about that which lays beyond "life under the sun". From them we learn much. The One who designed this world and how it works, the One who established the laws of physics that governs it, the One who knows the hearts of all mankind and what our proclivities are, he is One who has great intelligence. He has very full and pervasive emotions. He has a will of his own and he responds to the events in our world in real time. He also answers prayer...

 

Although some folks struggle with the concept of God's sovereignty, a full and mature view of how God has revealed himself in the Scriptures acknowledges that our totally sovereign God responds to the wills of his creatures in his own way - and he isn't going to check in with me first. Listen to what he tells us. "If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it." Jeremiah 18:7-10.

 

The most wonderful acknowledgment of this can be found in the teaching of Jesus on prayer, "Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: 'In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, "Grant me justice against my adversary." For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, "Even though I don't fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!"' And the Lord said, 'Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly.'" Luke 18:1-8a.

 

God does answer prayer! He responds to the pleas of his children and if he chooses to do so, he will intervene in the affairs of this world and bring about that which would not have otherwise happened. "It is what it is" is not always necessarily true, and when it comes to prayer, it just may be that where a tree falls, there it may not lie!

 

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: Jesus Christ brings meaningful life!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Ecclesiastes 11:8,

 

"However many years a man may live, let him enjoy them all. But let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. Everything to come is meaningless."

 

Solomon looks to the limitations of life under the sun. He observes that light is sweet and pleases the eye, that a man ought to enjoy all the years he lives, and especially while he is young. But he also observes that the days of darkness will be many and that all that comes a man's way is "meaningless" - it will hold no lasting value for him. So, he says, don't worry about it, "banish anxiety" because this is going to be the case of things - nothing can be done about it. Although a man can be happy with the things of youth, youthfulness will pass in time as well, youth and vigor are meaningless. At some point all die and come into God's judgment.

 

What a bleak outlook! However, this is how life is "under the sun". Why should we expect anything else? Since the fall of man in the garden of Eden, mankind has lived in a cursed and fallen world, estranged from his creator. It is the sin of man that has brought this futility, this meaninglessness to life in this world. We come into it and live our lives here as sinful and rebellious people in a lost and fallen world. In this book Solomon is painfully truthful and dreadfully accurate in his observations. He prepares us to look for that which is found beyond "life under the sun."

 

What lays beyond "life under the sun"? A light has dawned on those living in this darkness! As Jesus Christ entered the world, he brought hope and opportunity for all mankind! He said, "I am the way and the truth and the life." He also said, "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life." John 14:6 and John 5:24. Here is life with meaning! Here is life with purpose and fulfillment! Here is life that is everlasting!

 

 

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: Our lives belong to God.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Ecclesiastes 12:6-7,

 

"Remember him—before the silver cord is severed, or the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, or the wheel broken at the well, and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it."

 

Solomon tells us to remember God before it is too late. It is imperative we turn to God before the end of life when our spirit returns to him. If we don't, we will return to God to face his horrific judgment. If we do, if we embrace his Son, Jesus Christ in faith, we will return to God to reap a rich reward as co-heirs with Jesus Christ. In his wonderful doxology, Jude says, "To him who is able... to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy- to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority..." Jude 24-25.

 

I can't help but note something that Solomon points out here, something that seems to slip my mind all too often. God is the one who gives us life. My life is something God provided. My life is not my own, it is God's and when I die, my spirit returns to him for his disposition. Here lay the most important of all implications...

 

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: Jesus Christ, our great joy!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Ecclesiastes 11:7,

 

"Light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes to see the sun."

 

This simple observation of Solomon brings to my mind one of the most moving and dramatic passages of all Scripture for me, Isaiah 9:2, "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned." This, of course, is a reference to the coming child we read of a few verses later, "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

 

That Christmas night, two millenia ago, ushered God's Son into a planet lost in darkness. The world, populated with people who live in darkness and walk around in the darkness, stumbling and not knowing where he they are going, because the darkness has blinded them (1 John 2:10-11) was pierced with the blinding light of God's one and only Son.

 

On that night the brilliant light of God's glory blazed upon shepherds out in the field. An angel spoke these words to the terrified shepherds, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:10-11. "Great joy"!

 

"Light is sweet, and it pleases the eyes", but this light brings "great joy"! Not simply happiness or that which is pleasing, but great joy! A joy that wells up into an inexpressible and glorious joy! 1 Peter 1:8.

 

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: What do we know of the future?

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Ecclesiastes 10:14,

 

"No one knows what is coming— who can tell him what will happen after him?"

 

There is just a lot we don't know. We don't know what tomorrow may bring. Next week, next month or next year either. The future is hidden from us and we just cannot see into it. How will our children do after we leave this life? Our grandchildren? What will happen to the estates we may have built, the collections of things we have given ourselves to, our valuables and bank accounts? We can specify what we want done with them in a last will and testament, but what will our heirs do with them?

 

What will happen to our way of life? Our country? The freedoms and opportunities previous generations have so selflessly sacrificed to provide us? This is a question that seems to be garnering more attention today than ever given the political realities we live in today. We just do not know what is coming. Here is something that can bring a degree of anxiety and concern and points to another aspect of uncertainty or even futility in this life "under the sun".

 

But, is this all there is to the matter? Do we not know anything about tomorrow? If we enlarge our perspective from only that which is under the sun to include the things of God, the hope we have in our inheritance stored up for us in heaven and the Scriptures the Lord has provided us, yes, there are plenty of things we can know about tomorrow, we can know about many things that will happen after we are gone.

 

God's loving embrace will be in place. His love for mankind and his desire that we turn to him in faith will be in place after we are gone. God's mercy and forgiving kindness will be here after we are gone. His good intentions for those who embrace him in faith will be here after we are gone. God' promise to us of our inheritance in the resurrection will stand, long after we are gone from this life. On the flip side, God's assurance of judgment for all sin looms in the future as a certainty. We know of the return of Jesus Christ to earth and the resurrection he will bring about in God's timing. There is plenty we know of that is coming, even after we leave this life.

 

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: Knowing God is the answer for everything.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Ecclesiastes 10:19,

 

"A feast is made for laughter, and wine makes life merry, but money is the answer for everything."

 

In the midst of a series of proverbs, Solomon makes this observation which seems to me to be thematic with the message of Ecclesiastes. He observes the diversions we engage in to bring us enjoyment in life. For laughter a feast is made, for merriment in life we look to wine. He concludes this proverb noting that while people look to one thing or another to bring about what they want, "money is the answer for everything."

 

It sure seems like nothing has changed in three thousand years. We pursue diversions for ourselves and we think we know what is needed to bring what our hearts desire. Often we look in all the wrong places and we settle for far less than what will satisfy the deepest yearnings of our hearts. While there is nothing wrong with laughter and merriment (I am in great support of them), the feast comes to an end and the bottle runs empty. These are only temporary diversions in life under the sun and often mask the genuine yearnings of our hearts. Additionally, "the answer for everything" turns out to be not the answer we thought it might be.

 

How many times have we heard stories of those who have encountered wealth report back to the rest of us that it really doesn't bring happiness? It is often thought that money will resolve whatever it is we look for in life, but this really isn't the case.

 

What is the case is that having an encounter with our Creator through his Son, Jesus Christ, is the answer to everything. Not only is laughter and merriment found here, more than just a shallow diversion, an encounter with God brings the deepest satisfaction and pleasure. Peter speaks of being filled with an "inexpressible and glorious joy". In speaking to the Lord, David says, "You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand." Knowing God brings assurance of what lays beyond the grave. Knowing God brings us rescue from his coming wrath for sins we have committed. Knowing God eliminates the anxieties of life because we are assured of his great love for us and his wonderful intentions for us. Knowing God is the perfect satisfaction of the gaping hole left in our hearts since our estrangement from him in the garden of Eden.

 

Knowing God is the answer for everything.

 

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: Jesus Christ - our perfect Savior.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Ecclesiastes 10:10,

 

"If the ax is dull and its edge unsharpened, more strength is needed but skill will bring success."

 

Solomon's proverb here points to the reality in this life under the sun, that accomplishing a task increases in difficulty when the tools required are not prepared, not adequate, insufficient. Additional strength and skill will be required. It is an obvious point and I suspect we all can relate to this all to well.

 

What this verse brings to my mind this morning, for whatever reason, is the atonement Jesus Christ made for our sins, redeeming us that we might have a place at the table of God's family. Did he have a sharp axe? Did he have to struggle because of some unforeseen lack so that additional strength, additional skill was required?

 

I have two thoughts about this. The first is that I am convinced the sacrifice Jesus Christ made for us cost him dearly. He suffered the humility that only God could at assuming the role of man, a member of his own creation. In that role he died a miserable death, suffering horrifically. Compounding the physical, emotional and mental anguish that attended his sacrifice was the fact that he took on himself every rotten, stinking and filthy sin ever committed by every human being who ever existed or will exist. That which he abhors, that which is contrary to his own character and nature, that which he despises, he took on himself that we might have an opportunity to escape the wrath of God for sin. From this perspective, I believe Jesus Christ spared no effort in his desire to redeem us to make for himself a people.

 

The second thought I have is that our sinless Savior was fully equipped perfectly for the task he took on. Peter tells us, "For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect." 1 Peter 1:19. This ax had no need of sharpening. He was fully prepared, fully equipped, fully adequate in every way to secure our atonement for any and all sin for all time. What he wrought was perfection, as the writer of Hebrews says, "by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy." Hebrews 10:14.

 

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: God will judge all.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Ecclesiastes 12:14,

 

"God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil."

 

Really? Is this really true? Do I really believe this? If it is true, how important is it to me? Do I brush this off and put it out of my mind and distract myself with other things? If Solomon is right here, if he really is inspired by God and this is exactly the affair of things then this is stunning and sobering. Every deed, whether hidden or not, God will bring into judgment! Where does that leave me?

 

I am reminded of what the writer of Hebrews has to say, "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account." Hebrews 4:13. Also Paul, in 1 Corinthians 4:5b, "He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts." Where does that leave me?

 

Fools talk of those who embrace Jesus Christ as needing a crutch for their lives, as though the faithful are weak persons, unable to cope with the trials and difficulties found in life. The reality is, Jesus Christ came to rescue us from the coming wrath of God for all sins. All sins ever committed by each and every individual who has ever lived will be taken into account and the sinner will be cast into a fiery lake of burning sulfur. "The cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death." Revelation 21:8.

 

Solomon has written twelve chapters demonstrating the folly of being distracted by what is found in this life under the sun. Our deepest yearnings will never be satisfied with the things found in this life. Women, fortune and fame cannot provide it. And the stunning conclusion to the matter of what satisfies in this life is that God is going to bring everything ever done by every individual into judgment! Where does Solomon leave us? We have a desperate need to be rescued from the coming wrath, and the things of this life under the sun best not distract us from pursuing that which brings rescue as well as purposeful meaning and fulfillment in this life as well as the next.

 

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: God brings enlightenment.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Ecclesiastes 10:2,

"The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left."

 

There really are two ways to go in life. The way of the fool and the way of the wise. Solomon's father, David, tells us in Psalm 14:1, "The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.'" He goes on to say that they are corrupt and do no good. It is the passage that Paul quotes in Romans 3:10-12. John also speaks of fools. He says they stumble around in darkness and can't even see what it is they stumble over. They don't know where they are going because the darkness has blinded them. 1 John 2:9-11.

 

In another place John becomes even more pointed. In 1 John 3:7-10 we read, "Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother."

 

Here John points to the two ways a man's heart might be inclined, "The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left." The truth of the matter is that we all start off in life inclined to the left, the fool. We are all born in sin and stumble around in a spiritual darkness and so stumble over things we cannot see from the vantage point of the spiritual realm. Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:1-5, "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved."

 

How wonderful is that?! As our hearts were inclined toward sin, as we stumbled around in a spiritual blindness and darkness, God sent his Son for us, to take our punishment on himself. Having done that, for those of us who have embraced him in faith, he sent his Spirit to live within us, to enlighten us, to incline our hearts "to the right."

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: No flies in the ointment!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Ecclesiastes 10:1,

 

"As dead flies give perfume a bad smell, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor."

 

A jar of perfume gives off an abundance of pleasing fragrance. But just one fly in the ointment can spoil it all. It brings to my mind the proverb, "Like a muddied spring or a polluted well is a righteous man who gives way to the wicked." Proverbs 25:26. The man in that proverb is a righteous man. But just one infraction, one sin, has the effect of spoiling it all. It seems as though one can live his life in an upright way, but one slip up, one sin and that pleasing fragrance becomes a stench. The disturbing thing about it is that, were we all to be honest about it, we would all have to admit to those things that might result in us not being highly thought of by others. Never mind all the good things done, it only takes a little sin to outweigh the good.

 

As I think of these things, it brings a fresh appreciation for what the Lord has done for those of us who have embrace him in faith. In addition to being forgiven our sins, the Lord has done something wonderful beyond that. In Ephesians 1:4, we read, "he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight." Yes, we are redeemed. Yes, we have been adopted as his sons and daughters. Yes we have been given eternal and abundant life. In addition to these wonderful things, although we have done those things that are displeasing and even detestable to him, as his children, he will hold us in his arms as holy and blameless. He will not allow any odor of our own folly to interrupt a full relationship of intimacy with him. He holds nothing against us and never will. Our sins will be forgotten. The extent of the propitiation of our sins wrought by Jesus Christ reaches to this level!

 

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: God satisfies our deepest yearnings.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Ecclesiastes 11:9,

"Be happy, young man, while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment."

 

Be happy. Indulge yourself. "Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see." The reality is this is exactly what most of us do. We don't need to be told to indulge ourselves. Even the ascetics of old and the religious do-gooders of today do the same thing. They deny themselves and those around them in an effort to indulge themselves in a sense of accomplishment they have wrought at establishing their own righteousness. The ultimate problem with indulging the ways of our hearts is that our hearts are deceitful. "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" Jeremiah 17:9. As far as what our eyes see, John warns us, "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever." 1 John 2:15-17.

 

My feeling is we live our lives often in desperation in the absence of God's presence. We have a deep lingering need for something that can't quite be filled by the things of this world, what there is in "life under the sun." Even those of us who have enormous wealth, beautiful wives, accomplishments and accolades struggle in indulging ourselves. Just read the news. We have an emptiness that, like a vacuum in the creation, seeks to be filled with something.

 

"But know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment." Go ahead and indulge yourself, but know that you will have to give account of yourself before him to whom we must give account. God is our judge.

 

The need is real. The vacuum exists. Our hearts draw us into all sorts of things that will bring us before God's judgment. Sin will never satisfy and the indulgence of where our hearts take us will only bring us to that judgment. So, what to do with that vacuum? God reached out to us by sending his Son for us. When here Jesus said, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty." John 6:35. To the Samaritan woman at the well Jesus said, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." In the sermon on the mount Jesus said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." Matthew 5:6.

 

Here is the rightful fulfillment of our hears so many of us yearn for. We have a felt need that was created, that vacuum, when God's very presence was ripped from us in the garden of Eden. In our estrangement from him, all there is under the sun will never bring a satisfaction to us. We have to look beyond what lies under the sun. Only our Creator, he for whom we were created, can bring us fulfillment and satisfaction, in both this life and in the resurrection.

 

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: Life beyond "life under the sun."

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Ecclesiastes 9:5,

"The living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten."

 

Solomon makes this comment as a summary to his observation that from the perspective of "life under the sun" those who are alive have hope, "even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!" The same can't be said for the dead. Solomon's perspective is clear and dreadfully accurate. From the perspective of this life, all there is - is in this life.

 

But God, in his wonderful love for us, has provided us a much broader perspective. Life under the sun is only a part of the totality of life. As we read the Scriptures, as an example, we find in the first book, Genesis, Jacob has a startling vision. The veil of what can be seen in life under the sun is pierced and Jacob sees angels ascending and descending between heaven and earth. In the New Testament, as the account of the birth of Jesus Christ is given, we are told of shepherds who witness an amazing sight. An angel of the Lord appears to them, someone from beyond life under the sun! He tells these shepherds of the news of great joy, a Savior has been born! We read on and find that, "Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.'" In the last book of he Bible we read of the heavenly throne, Revelation 4. In the next chapter we read of millions of angels, living creatures and elders singing praises to God as they gather around the throne. All this is beyond life under the sun.

 

From the myopic perspective of this life under the sun, there is what we get and then the grave. From the broader perspective of all of reality, there is much, much more! We read of the experiences of those who have passed through the gate of death to move on to their eternal reward. Jesus gave us the story of Lazarus and the rich man in Luke 16:19-31. There he speaks of the concerns of the suffering rich man for his five brothers. We read the prophetic words of Abraham from paradise of the responses people will make to the resurrection of Jesus Christ, an astonishing and fascinating account.

 

Together with those of faith the writer of Hebrews speaks of, we yearn for what lies beyond life under the sun, "they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them." Hebrews 11:16.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: God sends his Son for us!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Ecclesiastes 12:13-14,

"Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil."

 

After relieving us our assumptions about finding purpose, meaning, fulfillment, ultimate happiness in this life "under the sun", Solomon brings us his conclusion to the matter. "Fear God and keep his commandments..." With a reverence and fear of the great Judge, we are told to keep his commands. Of course, these are the very ones we find ourselves unable to keep.

 

What a dilemma! Not only will we not find that which we were created for in this life, that which constitutes the fulfillment of the deepest yearning of our hearts in this life, we will not find ourselves able to order our lives by the laws God gave us. Of keeping the law Paul said, "We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it." Romans 7:14-20.

 

Solomon has stripped us of any fantasy of finding lasting fulfillment in this life and laid down the gauntlet, which keeps us at odds with the only one who can meet our needs: our Creator. Here Solomon has masterfully set the table for us. We have a heartfelt need for our Creator and we find ourselves estranged from him. God is beyond our reach.

 

But, God so loved the world! He sent his Son to us to make a way to what our hearts truly desire. When Jesus came to planet earth he said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Here is the answer! An invitation is given us through the gospel message! Jesus Christ is the way to God. Jesus Christ is the way to the resurrection of life, eternal and abundant. Jesus Christ is the one who can bring what satisfies the deepest longings of our hearts and to rescue us from God's coming wrath for sin!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: Emptiness in the world, fullness with God.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Ecclesiastes 9:5-6,

"The living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they have no further reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten. Their love, their hate and their jealousy have long since vanished; never again will they have a part in anything that happens under the sun."

 

Solomon goes where most of us dread to go: he is so honest about this life that what he has to say could be couched with that famous movie phrase, "You can't handle the truth!" Here he points out that life under the sun is futile in that it is no more than a revolving door. We're in and then we're out of this life. We enter it, experience it, have our perspectives on it, reflected in our loves, our hates, our jealousies, but then we just vanish, we die.

 

How well do any of us know family members from three to four generations back? Think of all there was to their lives and now it is all gone. They have long since vanished, "even the memory of them is forgotten". Little is known of them, other than a spot on the family tree and maybe just several pieces of only very public information: who they were married to, where they lived, when they came over from the old world, what war they served in, date of birth, date of death, and not much else.

 

What were they like? Were they grumpy when they got up in the morning? Did they like children and dogs? What were their favorite meals? Did they have strong political feelings? Were they religious? Did they like the outdoors? Were they fun to be with, have a great sense of humor? There may be a few anecdotes, but the reality is that as a whole person, "even the memory of them is forgotten" when it comes to know what they were truly like. The same will happen to us. Our children and grandchildren will talk about us, but after time, we will all be forgotten, with few notable exceptions. Not much more than a space in some one's genealogy with a few facts preserved. That's about it.

 

Non-existence can be a terrifying thought upon reflection and that is just what we face from the perspective of "life under the sun." We come and after too few years, we go. Round and round the world spins and from this perspective our lives seem so small, so insignificant. Again, Solomon is clearing the decks for the coming gospel message. If we allow ourselves to be distracted by all there is "under the sun", we will miss what our hearts truly yearn for. We don't want to be just an entry in some future genealogy. We want to live and have our lives filled with purpose and meaning. This world cannot provide it, so life under the sun is meaningless as an experience to bring what it is our hearts yearn for.

 

But... God so loves us, even though we have turned our backs on him in sin and rebellion and gone our own way, he sent his Son to die for us, to reconcile us to himself. He offers us a place at the table in his family, abundant eternal life with meaning and purpose, eternal pleasures at his right hand! He offers us an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade, an inheritance that is kept in heaven for each of us.

 

The world, "what happens under the sun", cannot bring us what we really want. But God can and loves us so much he provides it to us! All he asks is that we trust in him.

 

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: God rescues the powerless.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Ecclesiastes 8:7-8a,

"Since no man knows the future, who can tell him what is to come? No man has power over the wind to contain it; so no one has power over the day of his death."

 

For each of us, we have no idea what the future holds. We know of some future events that will take place: the return of Jesus Christ to planet earth, the resurrection of the dead, eternal life for those who have embraced Jesus Christ in faith. We know these things because they have been told to us in the Scriptures. But what will take place tomorrow is hidden from us. We may enjoy something wonderful or we may face some horrific event. It may be our last day in this life "under the sun". We just don't know.

 

The Lord knows, of course. We are told he knows the end from the beginning. Not only does he know what will take place for each of us tomorrow, as believers, we know that he intends whatever it is for our good. The well-known passage from Romans 8:28 comes to mind, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

 

Although there is great assurance to be found in this, in our "life under the sun", it pales in comparison to the powerful assurance we have for judgment day, a day coming for us all. All sinners will be cast into a fiery lake of burning sulfur, Revelation 21:8. For those of us who have embraced Jesus Christ in faith, our sins have been paid for and we look forward to an eternity with our Lord: eternal pleasures at his right hand. Psalm 16:11.

 

At times I hear that Jesus Christ is a crutch for those who need one in this life. The point being made that Christians are the weakest among people and unable to cope with the challenges of life without a crutch. While I whole-heartedly agree that Christians find in Jesus Christ a refuge and strength, the choice of those who have embraced him has been made for other another reason. We will all need rescue on judgment day to escape that fiery lake of burning sulfur. Jesus Christ has already paid the penalty for our sins. On that day, no one who rejected Jesus Christ will avoid being cast into this horrific judgment. "The cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death." Revelation 21:8.

 

"Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." Revelation 20:11-15.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: God is just.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Ecclesiastes 7:15,

"In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these: a righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness."

 

Here is a theme that is seen from time to time in the Scriptures. On the one hand we read what Solomon had to say in Proverbs 15:24, "The path of life leads upward for the wise to keep him from going down to the grave." Yet, in Ecclesiastes he speaks of the righteous man perishing in his righteousness and a wicked man living long in his wickedness. Asaph made similar observations, "I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong. They are free from the burdens common to man; they are not plagued by human ills." Psalm 73:3-5.

 

Asaph goes on to say that when he observed this in life, it was "oppressive" to him. It perplexed and vexed him. But when he drew near to God in worship he understood something he had no way of seeing otherwise. He says, "When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny. Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin. How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors! As a dream when one awakes, so when you arise, O Lord, you will despise them as fantasies."

 

What isn't observed "under the sun", that which Solomon made note of, is resolved in the next life. The wicked face the day of judgment while the righteous are rewarded. God's justice will be satisfied, completely and fully. Observing this, Solomon's father, David, says, "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil. For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land. A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found. But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace." Psalm 37:7-11.

 

God is just and the righteous will be blessed. The wicked will suffer. Maybe not in "life under the sun", but judgment day is coming. This could not have been demonstrated more forcefully than the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on the cross. The only way there will be any "righteous" that will escape God's justice in the resurrection is through faith in Jesus Christ. He said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6. For any of us to be found righteous in the resurrection, payment had to be made for sins committed. Our loving Lord did just that!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: Our ignorance, God's reach.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Ecclesiastes 8:17,

"No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all his efforts to search it out, man cannot discover its meaning. Even if a wise man claims he knows, he cannot really comprehend it."

 

We are born sinners. No matter how cute, cuddley and innocent our babies appear to us, they are born with a sinful nature awaiting its opportunity to blossom. Although we love them dearly, as does the Lord, I suspect most of us disabuse ourselves of the notion of their sinlessness when they hit the "terrible twos". Not only do we all enter this life as sinners, we are born into a cursed and fallen world, estranged from God, held captive by a collective sinful nature the Scriptures calls "the world".

 

Because of this state of affairs, we struggle with our understanding of things. Our hearts, influenced by our sinful nature and the world often lead us astray. The Lord tells us in Jeremiah 17:9, "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" One way our hearts lead us astray is we often view this life as all there is. We look to see how we can satisfy ourselves and seek out our best in this life without consideration of the next. As Paul discusses those who reject the gospel he puts it this way, "for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger." Romans 2:8. A way we decieve ourselves is in the thinking that those things that are just beyond us can bring us happiness and satisfaction, a fulfillment our hearts yearn for. We seem to be driven by notions of more money, more accomplishment and more of those things that offer us pleasure will bring us this fulfillment we are driven to find.

 

This book of Ecclesiastes, I believe, one of the most misunderstood books of the Bible, is devoted to this very issue. Solomon, often accused of writing it at an elderly age, having indulged himself with what God told him not to, writes this book from the perspective of a man bitter at life, disgusted and discouraged due to his sin. I couldn't disagree more. Through Solomon, a man of faith, a man that God himself equipped for the very task, God is communicating to us that happiness and fulfillment is not to be found in this lost and fallen world, this world estranged from God and given to its sinful proclivities: "life under the sun". It is a message very relelant for our day. So lost is this message, that when presented to us by Solomon we miss the point and criticize him for being disgruntled and discouraged. Whether this book or any other book of Scripture, I am driven by Peter's observation, "Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."

 

No, Ecclesiastes is not a book of observations made by an old, disgruntled and discouraged man. It is a message to us from God himself, a message he wants us to know. Afterall, God himself is the one who inspired Solomon to say, "No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all his efforts to search it out, man cannot discover its meaning. Even if a wise man claims he knows, he cannot really comprehend it." Our misunderstanding of the book only proves the point!

 

But more importantly, I am just astonished at the lengths God has gone to help us overcome our ignorance to help us find him in the truth of the gospel messge.

 

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: The day of death vs. birth.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in 7:1,

"A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of death better than the day of birth."

 

I have to admit, I'm not sure what Solomon intended to point to here, but here are the thoughts this verse generated in my mind:

 

This is a fascinating verse. The first half of the verse points to something easy to see and accept: to recognize someone as good certainly has the effect of enhancing their winsome stature among others. It is the second half of the verse that is an eyebrow raiser. "the day of death" is "better than the day of birth."

 

We celebrate the arrival of our new-borns and mourn the loss when a loved one dies. We all have built within us the will to live, to exist and to maintain our lives as long as we can. We believe that life is a precious gift that finds its sanctity in the reality that it is God himself who has provided it.

 

Paul spoke to this issue about his own life. He said, "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far... " Philippians 1:21-23. Paul was in agreement with Solomon.

 

The perspective for this has to transcend Solomon's scope for his experiments. To have a fuller perspective we need to view life as we have been taught in the Scriptures. Life extends beyond the grave. As we read of the resurrection, we recognize that death is merely a doorway that ushers believers right into the very presence of the Lord himself. There we enter into the eternal phase of life that is not marked by an estrangement from God. There we will not be living under God's curse and the collective sinful nature of humanity. There we will experience eternal pleasures at the right hand of God, Psalm 16:11. There we will not face death any longer, no more sickness, no more sorrow, no more pain. Fullness of life, purposefulness of existence, a richness that will only be available where our lives conform to all God designed us for.

 

The day of death for believers is better than the day of birth. It signals the end of this life - terminating in the birth of the next. For the unbeliever, no day is good.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: "Here is a trustworthy saying"...

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Ecclesiastes 7:16-18,"

 

Do not be overrighteous, neither be overwise— why destroy yourself? Do not be overwicked, and do not be a fool— why die before your time? It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. The man who fears God will avoid all extremes."

 

"Moderation in all things..." Here is a passage that is sure to perplex the do-gooders among us. Solomon says that being "overrighteous" and "overwicked" result in destruction, premature death. What are we to make of such a passage?

 

Surely, if doing something that is "righteous" is a good thing, then doing it more so, has to be better? I suspect there is little controversy over the dangers of being "overwicked". But the thought, "It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other" can be perplexing as well. The God fearer who avoids all extremes is a comment that certainly has the the ring of wisdom to it, but what to make of the other statements?

 

While I can see that most good or righteous traits become bad traits when exercised to the extreme (e.g. thrift becomes miserliness, tolerance becomes acquiescence, etc.) these verses certainly challenge me.

 

For me, shrugging off Solomon as an old man and unreliable in this book will never do as I struggle in my understanding of it. I am reminded that "All Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness." 2 Timothy 3:16. Peter tells me that what Solomon had to write here was provided by the Holy Spirit, 2 Peter 1:20-21. I will embrace what the Scriptures have to say and recognize that I'm somewhat slow and somewhat of a plodder when it comes to understanding many passages I read. Although I take little comfort in my ability to understand the Scriptures, I take great assurance in what God does have to say. My understanding may be unreliable at times, but God is always reliable and truthful in what he has to say.

 

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: Treasure that endures.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Ecclesiastes 5:15,

 

"Naked a man comes from his mother's womb, and as he comes, so he departs. He takes nothing from his labor that he can carry in his hand."

 

From the perspective of life under the sun, this truth is painfully obvious. What we work a lifetime to build and acquire, it all gets left behind when we leave this life. While this is certainly a disturbing state of affairs when given reflection, the good news is that "life under the sun" is altogether a limited perspective. Solomon is showing us what we yearn for cannot be found here with lasting satisfaction.

 

As believers in Jesus Christ we have a much broader perspective. This life we live, from womb to tomb, "life under the sun" is only a smidgen of what we see. We have within our perspective life eternal beyond the grave. From the resurrection we will look back on this chapter of our lives as incredibly significant, as it determines our state of affairs in the next, but yet it will seem, I suspect, extremely short - just  a moment, compared to life measured in eternal terms. What we gain through the fruit of our labor in the resurrection will not be left behind.

 

While this is wonderful news, there is even more. Because we have a perspective beyond what Solomon reports on in Ecclesiastes, there is more to say of the issue. Jesus taught, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal." Matthew 6:19-20. We can, in this life under the sun, work for what will be waiting for us in the resurrection. These things we will carry in hand, into eternity.

 

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: Jesus Christ is the satisfaction of our appetites.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Ecclesiastes 6:7,

"All man's efforts are for his mouth, yet his appetite is never satisfied."

 

Here is a great summation of Solomon's thesis: life "under the sun" simply does not satisfy, hence it is "meaningless". Burning within the heart of man is a hunger, a yearning for things not found in this life. When we think of mankind's existence with his Creator in the garden, the proximity and interaction with God himself, it is exactly that which we miss as we are left in this lost and fallen world, estranged from our Creator, missing what we were created for. Fellowship with God. Here is where the answers lay for all the classical questions asked by the philosopher. "Who am I?" "Where did I come from?" "Where am I going?" "Why am I here?" None of these questions had to be asked in the garden.

 

Coupled with a sinful nature, this yearning produces the common ills known to man: addictive behaviors, sexual promiscuity, coveting what others have, the quest for fame, fortune and power. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. We have a gaping vacuum in our hearts, that God shaped gaping hole, that seeks to be filled in our sinfulness by looking in all the wrong places. And yet, "his appetite is never satisfied."

 

But God is to be found. He has revealed himself to us! The cause of the glorious and inexpressible joy believers have is in the finding of that which satisfies. The satisfaction of what our hearts yearn for is found in Jesus Christ. The fulfillment of that yearning is what David calls "eternal pleasures" at the right hand of the Lord, joy in his presence. Psalm 16:11. Our Savior beckons us to give up the quest for finding what satisfies in this life, it is not to be found here, in life under the sun, as Solomon amply proves in this book. What truly satisfies is found in the resurrection, in Jesus Christ, in a place at his table. Here is where appetites are satisfied!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: God's activity in our lives.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Ecclesiastes 5:18-6:2,

"Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him—for this is his lot. Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work—this is a gift of God. He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart. I have seen another evil under the sun, and it weighs heavily on men: God gives a man wealth, possessions and honor, so that he lacks nothing his heart desires, but God does not enable him to enjoy them, and a stranger enjoys them instead."

 

Aside from Solomon's point here, I have to admit that my perspective on God is that he is close to each one of us, very close, but that he does not involve himself frequently in the activities of an individual. I do believe in prayer and I believe that God will intercede on behalf of someone as he sees fit, especially in answer to prayer as Jesus taught us, but my perspective has always been that God just does not tinker in our lives a whole lot. Then, I read a passage like the above and have to admit that my perspective needs adjusting.

 

Look at what Solomon says about the Lord's potential involvement in a person's life in this passage: God is the one who gives man "the few days" of his life. God gives wealth and possessions. Not only does he give them but he enables a man to enjoy them. God also enables someone to be happy in his work, as a gift. God might keep someone occupied with gladness of heart, but, on the other hand, he might not enable a man to enjoy the things he has given him.

 

From this passage, not only do I see God as being very close to each one of us, he can also be quite active in our lives, and from passages like this one, I see that he can be very active.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: The doorway of death.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Ecclesiastes 2:12-16,

"Then I turned my thoughts to consider wisdom, and also madness and folly. What more can the king's successor do than what has already been done? I saw that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness. The wise man has eyes in his head, while the fool walks in the darkness; but I came to realize that the same fate overtakes them both. Then I thought in my heart, 'The fate of the fool will overtake me also. What then do I gain by being wise?' I said in my heart, 'This too is meaningless.' For the wise man, like the fool, will not be long remembered; in days to come both will be forgotten. Like the fool, the wise man too must die!"

 

"Like the fool, the wise man too must die!" Here is the ultimate frustration of life. We all die! There is simply no escaping it. Both the wise and the fool must die, the faithful and the irreligious, those who seek God and those who are self-seeking: all must die.  Considered from the perspective Solomon chose for his experiment, the perspective of "life under the sun", it has tremendous impact on just what we should expect from this life. The accurate conclusion is that life itself, considered from this perspective is meaningless, empty, vain.

 

For life to have meaning, fullness and purpose, the perspective must transcend this life "under the sun". Apart from God, apart from the life he designed us for, life in the resurrection, Solomon's observations are truthful and accurate. This lost and fallen world, existing under God's curse is populated by people who are all headed for death. Sickness, disease, pain, discouragement, disappointment abound in this world. Those who don't see it are simply not looking. Solomon looked and has provided us a comprehensive and accurate conclusion to the matter.

 

This should prepare us to look beyond ourselves, to look beyond this life. Death is but a doorway and the choices we make in this life hold critical importance for life beyond "under the sun". We will all face God's judgment following this life and those who have embraced Jesus Christ in faith in this life "under the sun" will find forgiveness of sins and a place at the table with Jesus Christ in the next. There we will encounter the pleasures God intended for us at his right hand, Psalm 16:11, and joy in his presence! All this provided us by Jesus Christ out of his unfathomable love for us.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: Healing our hearts.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Ecclesiastes 2:1-3,

"I thought in my heart, 'Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.' But that also proved to be meaningless. 'Laughter,' I said, 'is foolish. And what does pleasure accomplish?' I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly—my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives."

 

This may be a bit afield from the passage, but the passage brings this thought to my mind: Solomon was a man of faith. He also had a special gifting of wisdom from God. Nevertheless, he had a corrupt heart as well. All men are born with corrupted hearts. From the fall of mankind in the garden, the heart of man is deceitful. As is asked in Jeremiah 17:9, "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" Testing his heart, Solomon was never going to find that which is satisfying, "what is good". A corrupt heart is an unruly customer to satisfy and please. As Solomon had to say in another book he wrote, "He who trusts in himself is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom is kept safe." Proverbs 28:26.

 

The gospel that Jesus Christ brought is a gospel of hope, a way for all of us to escape the corruption bound up in our hearts. The concept of being "born again", John 3:3, or "regenerated", "renewed", Titus 3:5, speaks to me of the wonderful and mystical work the Holy Spirit does in our hearts when we become children of God. Our hearts become renewed as the Holy Spirit begins his life-changing work within us. As we learn from the Scriptures, it is not a work that becomes complete this side of the resurrection, but the good news is that it begins the minute we embrace Jesus Christ in faith. Then, on that wonderful, bright resurrection morning, we will all arise with a newness of heart that reflects the very character and nature of our wonderful Savior, Jesus Christ. In the meantime we look for that fruit the Holy Spirit produces at the present time, Galatians 5:22-23.

 

Is this something God had to do for us? Is it something due us from him? Not at all! This is simply another of God's wonderful love and boundless grace he expresses to us as his children: his desire to heal our hearts!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: Fulfilment in our inheritance!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Ecclesiastes 1:4-9,

"Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises. The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course. All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again. All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing. What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun."

 

"Round and round it goes..." The world we live in continues on as it has done for millennia. Solomon wrote this three millennia ago! He finds existence here in this life, "under the sun", wearisome where people just cannot satisfy their appetites. As Solomon writes on he will point to the reality that though the world goes round and round, we have a very short shelf-life, bringing him frustration and vexation.

 

I firmly believe the point behind Ecclesiastes is to help prepare us for the gospel message. Solomon takes an honest look at this life, "under the sun" and points to its futility, "Meaningless! Meaningless!" "A chasing after the wind." The human heart yearns for existence, purpose, meaning and happiness. What many folks shy from, Solomon faces boldly. Those important issues man yearns for simply cannot be found here in this life at a satisfying level. Our yearning, properly focused, should cause us to look elsewhere. Others have and have found what they looked for. The Scriptures speak of an inheritance for all those who embrace Jesus Christ in faith. An inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade, promised and reserved for us in heaven by God.

 

Here is found the purpose for which our God created us! Here is where justice and equity reign! Here is where happiness is found! No more sickness, pain or death. No more disappointment, no more deprivation. Fulfilment of our greatest desires await us in our rich inheritance purchased for us by our loving Savior! 

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: God's judgment.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Ecclesiastes 1:13,

 

"I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid on men!"

 

Whatever Solomon references when he speaks of the "burden God has laid on men", it speaks to the issue of sinful man suffering the consequences of turning from God. Solomon may have been observing that knowledge requires a heavy burden to attain, that it is simply not easy for man to acquire, or it might have been the conclusion of the matter Solomon came to: life under the sun is a futile affair. Both come from God's judgment of man in the garden of Eden.

 

This points to one of God's essential qualities, his justice. In Jeremiah 9:24 we read. "I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight." Although Adam and Eve were given fair warning from God, they nevertheless turned from him. The consequences of this are simply immeasurable. God is to be feared, he is to be revered and he is not to be trifled with. Mankind has reaped the consequences - just as God had warned him.

 

Such is our God. He is straight forward, unambiguous. Just as all has happened as he said it would in the past, so all yet to come will happen just as he has said it will.

 

Although the consequences of man's sin are immeasurable, God's love for us is not. It's height, its depth, its length and its width is measured in the horrific death of his Son, Jesus Christ, to secure our pardon from God's justice, to make a way for us to become his children with a rich inheritance we can look forward to.

 

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Ecclesiastes 1:15,

 

"What is twisted cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted."

 

Solomon speaks to a hard, cold reality that some simply run from: the futility of what we face in this life. He makes clear what his perspective is in the preceding verse. There he says, "I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind." As Solomon speaks, he does so from the perspective of this life. This life, "under the sun" is futile. "What is twisted cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted."

 

As Solomon continues in his presentation, he amply demonstrates why this life, from the perspective of this life (again, "under the sun") is filled with futility. Without shying away from the realities we all encounter in this life, he points to a secret that few know.

 

This secret is that all of those things we think will bring us happiness and fulfillment in this life (life under the sun) do not deliver. "If I could only find a wife", "If I could only get into this college", "If I could only get this promotion" or "that job". "If I could only make more money", "get the toys I want", have what my friend or neighbor has (that "grass is greener" thing...). We think these will bring happiness. Solomon, uniquely qualified and equipped to investigate such, found that happiness and fulfillment are not found in any of those things.

 

Ultimately, Solomon points to the end game as to why this life is so futile: we all die. No matter what we accumulate, what we accomplish, we die and others take the helm. What we sought to accomplish gets pushed to the side just as we did with what others pursued before us. Life is futile.

 

The purpose of Solomon's book is not without great merit. It prepares us for the new covenant. When we realize that the happiness and fulfillment that we yearn for is not to be found in this life, we begin to look elsewhere. Here is where the gospel comes into play. We are told that we have a wonderful inheritance that awaits us in the resurrection if we but place our faith and trust in Jesus Christ. As believers this inheritance is secured for us - guaranteed, something we can count on. It is certain and its value never diminishes. In his Sermon on the Mount Jesus said, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:19-21.

 

Solomon is preparing us for the gospel message as he speaks to the futility of life under the sun. The exciting news in the gospel is the happiness and fulfillment we often strive for in this world of futility is found freely in him! And... how much greater is that happiness and fulfillment we will find with our Creator God when we enter into all he designed us for!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: Our blessed hope!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Ecclesiastes 4:1-3,

 

"Again I looked and saw all the oppression that was taking place under the sun: I saw the tears of the oppressed— and they have no comforter; power was on the side of their oppressors— and they have no comforter. And I declared that the dead, who had already died, are happier than the living, who are still alive. But better than both is he who has not yet been, who has not seen the evil that is done under the sun."

 

The Christian book stores are full of books written by popular pastors and ministers on how to achieve a happy life. Millions are made as these books fly off the shelves as people seek to find happiness and fulfillment in their lives. Obviously, it alludes them. Otherwise there would be no market for just such books. Many well-respected authors within the church have found this need within the body of Christ and have tapped into it as a means of producing best-selling titles. Scriptures are quoted, lifestyle pitfalls are identified, "biblical principles" are applied and a happy outcome is often assured.

 

The promotion of this perspective has led to the notion that somehow happiness and fulfillment in a world that is estranged from God, a world that exists under his condemnation and his curse, a world that is dominated by a collective sinful nature that finds its expression in the self-indulgence of some at the expense of others, the mistreatment of many, sickness, pain, death, depravity and the deprivation of so many, especially those in "developing" nations, can be found if we but follow what is offered in these books, on the cds and in these ministries.

 

Solomon had a special gifting of wisdom from God himself. With that wisdom he went in search to find what in life brought pleasure, satisfaction and fulfillment. He was certainly endowed with all any man who ever lived could employ to search for it. With opulent wealth, wisdom, stature, horses and wives he conducted his investigation. He reports back to the rest of us, those of us who suffer from relative deprivation as we look into his lavish life, filled with the "grass is greener" lie smoldering in our hearts, thinking if I only had this or that... His report? He says "With much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief." 1:18. His conclusion? Better is the man who has already passed from this evil world. Better yet is the one who has never had to endure it!

 

Very few have been so honest about what the truth is when it comes to living life in a lost and fallen world. Solomon was a man of God. As such he employed his resources to investigate those issues that really burn in the hearts of men - their personal happiness and fulfilment in this life. As the man he was, he did not shrink from the terrifying truth of the matter. "Life under the sun" is best not experienced at all.

 

So, what of those biblical principles that give us God's blueprint for living life in this world, "under the sun", what of all the self-help books that aid us in our pursuit of a happy life? When we follow them, we reap a reward, when we violate them we suffer the consequences. But the potential for finding the happiness and fulfilment we yearn for simply is not to be found in this life. As Solomon points out, this life is too temporary, it is filled with disappointment and inequity, it always, inevitably, ends in our death. This life exists under God's curse.

 

Is this the end of the matter? Not at all! Solomon is clearing the decks, preparing us for the gospel. The fulfillment of what we were created for is not to be found in life "under the sun". We were created for something better, hence the angst we feel over our lot in this life. Peter identifies it so wonderfully, and points to what our loving and merciful God has provided us: our hope in the resurrection! Such a wonderful hope this is that Peter tells us we best be prepared to give an answer for this hope we have, 1 Peter 3:15, because it leads to an inexpressible and glorious joy! 1 Peter 1:3-9. God offers us rescue from a cursed world and from his wrath!

 

The writer of Hebrews speaks of the mindset the heroes of faith had relative to life "under the sun". These great ones provide the way for the rest of us. "All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them." Hebrews 11:13-16.

 

What a blessed hope we have from our loving God... especially when viewed accurately from an honest appraisal of life in this lost and fallen world, "life under the sun"!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: Jesus Christ is worthy!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Revelation 13:9-10,

 

"He who has an ear, let him hear. If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity he will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword he will be killed. This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints."

 

We hear a lot these days, and it isn't all truthful. How many times have I turned on the television only to hear some self-appointed expert in the things of God say that since God loves us he wants us to be prosperous! Since God loves us he doesn't want us to be sick or to suffer, does he?

 

That is one view. But there is another viewpoint, what the Scriptures actually have to say. This passage tells us that there have been, there are and/or there will be God's children, whom he loves, saints, that suffer. Captivity, imprisonment and even death await some of the ones God loves. Why does God allow it? I couldn't say. Job couldn't say and I can't either. All I know is that God has his purposes and has his own agenda. My agenda does not include captivity and being killed with the sword, but God's agenda for me may be just that.

 

John tells us that this calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints. The question for me is, do I find Jesus Christ worthy of my suffering for him? Well, is he? Is he really? He suffered for me, didn't he? He laid his life down for me didn't he? As the creative agent of the Trinity, I owe my very existence to him, don't I? It boils down to an observation made by the four living creatures and twenty-four elders when they sang a new song to the Lamb, "You are worthy..." They don't just stop at the point of saying Jesus Christ is worthy to open a scroll, they tell him why, "you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth."

 

Here is the essence of true worship. The extolling of the matchless character and nature of our Lord! The telling of his great deeds! And what is the word from the elders and creatures? That Jesus Christ is worthy! He is worthy of any suffering I am called to endure. And from this passage I see that if I am called to endure such, God will not deliver me from it, he will not intervene on my behalf. There are many passages in Scripture that point to a wonderful reward that God has for those who are his, and particularly for those who suffer for him. But, for today, no matter what comes, he is worthy! He is worthy of all patient endurance and faithfulness from me.

 

How about you?

 

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: Worshippers from the great tribulation!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in Revelation 7:9-12,

"After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no
one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language,
standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing
white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they
cried out in a loud voice: 'Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on
the throne, and to the Lamb.' All the angels were standing around the
throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell
down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying:
'Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and
strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!'"

What a doxology this is! What a dramatic scene we have here as John
helps us peer into a future event that will take place in heaven! It
is simply a sweeping, breathtaking scene where redeemed mankind beyond
count, millions of angels, elders and "the four living creatures"
worship before the throne and in front of the lamb, Jesus Christ,
while holding palm branches in their hands.

From my perspective, I see "the great multitude" as us believers. We
will be counted among that number. Here John provides us a glimpse of
an event of worship that we will all participate in one day. John is
asked by one of the elders who the uncountable throng dressed in white
robes are and where they came from. The elder himself provides the
answer: "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation;
they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the
Lamb. Therefore, they are before the throne of God and serve him day
and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his
tent over them. Never again will they hunger; never again will they
thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. For
the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will
lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every
tear from their eyes." Revelation 7:14-17.

Unlike some, who see these worshippers as folks who have been
evangelized during Daniel's 70th week of years, the "tribulation",
after the rapture of the church (because the elder says they came out
of the "great tribulation") - a view I do not necessarily subscribe
to, I see it a bit differently. When the elder says these who are
worshipping, the ones who have "washed their robes and made them white
in the blood of the Lamb", my perspective is he is talking about all
those who have embraced Jesus Christ in faith over the years. All
believers. My thought is that the "great tribulation" is not that
technical term used for the completion of Daniel's seventy weeks, but
the great tribulation that is the experience of mankind living in a
lost and fallen world, estranged from its creator and suffering under
his curse. It is that great cosmic tribulation within God's creation
of sinful man living in rebellion to him. It is from within this
tribulation that these worshippers have "washed their robes and made
them white in the blood of the Lamb".

I'm certainly no expert in this book, and I have to admit that I often
feel lost in it. I realize many have a number of differing views on
what many of its passages have to say. Although you may disagree with
me, as I say, it is my perspective that we will all participate in
this wonderful moving event of worship where so many of God's
creatures will be bowing to him and worshipping him in fullness for
all he is!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd
love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: The joy of fellowship.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in 2 John 12,

"I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink.
Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that
our joy may be complete."

John anticipates a fullness of joy in seeing "the elder" face to face.
Fellowship is like that. In God's wonderful way, he has provided us
one another in this life for fellowship that we might be encouraged,
strengthened and energized. Joy is to be found here.

Paul speaks to this as well when he wrote to the believers in Rome. He
says, "I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual
gift to make you strong— that is, that you and I may be mutually
encouraged by each other's faith." Romans 1:11-12. Paul perceived the
encouragement that comes from the fellowship of believers coming
together a "spiritual gift".

The Lord has provided us so much while we are here, awaiting his
return. Among these he has provided us plenty in the Scriptures, he
has sent the Holy Spirit who has come to dwell within our hearts and
produce wonderful spiritual fruit in our lives. The Lord has provided
us an exciting hope, a future filled with all he has promised us. And,
he has provided brothers and sisters in our lives that are gifted
specially by him to minister his grace in our lives. Here is where
both John and Paul found joy and encouragement in their fellowship
with other believers.

How wonderful our God is who has provided us so much!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd
love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com

Worship for Today: One big, big heart!

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him in 2 Peter 3:8-9,

"But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day
is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The
Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.
He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to
come to repentance."

In a chapter that is sweeping in its view of the lifespan of the age
we live in, Peter points out that God is the Creator of both space and
time. "By God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out
of water and by water". Verse 5, God is the creator of space. We also
read that "With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a
thousand years are like a day." This is not necessarily a statement
just about the patience of God but that God resides outside of the
dimension of time. Yes, the Lord is patient, but also Peter's
statement is that just as equally to the Lord that a thousand years
are like a day, so a day is like a thousand years. To me, this is
Peter's way of saying that as our majestic Creator, God resides
outside the dimension of time. From my perspective, I would view it as
that God looks down on all existence, from the beginning of time to
the end of time, all at the same time. This, of course, is from my
perspective. From God's perspective I would expect that God simply
views all there is to see in his creation, and because of his vantage
point outside the dimension of time, he sees it all, from the
beginning to the end.

However, I must admit that when I think of such things, the fuses
start to blow in my brain. I just can't go where God exists and
understand much of what is there. It is simply beyond me. I do have
what the Scriptures reveal about God and I love to speculate on his
splendor and glory, but let's face it: I'm pretty limited to what I
can understand of him.

What I do understand of God from this passage is that he loves all
people. I realize this flies in the face of the current "pop" theology
today which declares that God loves only some and has selected his
few. If Peter says anything here, it is that God is patient and is
providing ample time so that everyone has the opportunity to turn to
him. He doesn't want anyone to perish, to face an eternity in the lake
of fire, but his desire is that everyone come to repentance.

What a massive and lofty view of God in this chapter! The creator of
all space and time has an equally massive heart that wants all,
everyone, to turn to him and be saved from his judgment!

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd
love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com