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
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