NOTHING NEW UNDER THE SUN...UNLESS IT'S UNDER THE SON

Greetings friends, neighbor's, countrymen...and country women also...how's it going? Have you looked in the mirror lately? Do you like what you see? How long do you spend...staring into your reflection as your reflection stares back at cha'? Do you do like the Fonz on Happy Days...as he gets ready to run his comb through his Brylcreem ladened hair...and decides...why mess with perfection...or do you pull a John Edwards and spend many minutes...preening over his hair like a rooster on a mission?

QUESTION: What does a folk singer, a seminal country rock band, a wise king, an ancient document from 935 B.C. all have in common?

ANSWER: The Book of ECCLESIASTES.

This is the title of the 21st book of the Old Testament that means:

HEBREW: Qoheleth=one who convenes and speaks at an assemlby or an ecclesiastic or preacher.

GREEK: Ecclesiastes=preacher derived from the word assembly.

The Byrds recorded a song by the author of the song...Pete Seeger...taken from Ecclesiastes 3:1-8...and called it TURN, TURN, TURN (To Everything There Is A Season). The only line that Pete added...other than turn, turn, turn... to the mix was a cry of desperation and a cry of hope..."I swear it's not to late."

This is a picture of a vanity. It is designed for the lady...or gentlemen...to have the perfect seat to view the preparation of the hair, face, clothes. It is called a vanity...because of the nature of someone who sits in front of it...is vain.

King Solomon...son of King David...a wise man...a rich man... a powerful, political man, a man with wives, concupines (the wife of a porcupine)...a man who HAD IT ALL...wrote a book about the nature of SELF CONSUMPTION.

He starts of the book with lament..."The words of the Preacher...the son of David, king in Jerusalem...VANITY of VANITIES...says the Preacher...VANITIES of VANITIES! ALL is VANITY. What advantage does man have in all his work which he does under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 1:1-3 NASB)

The Amplified puts it like this..."The words of the Preacher, the son of David and King of Jerusalem. VAPOR of VAPORS and FUTILITY of FUTILITIES, says the Preacher, VAPOR of VAPORS and FUTILITY OF FUTILITIES, ALL is VANITY---emptiness, falsity and vain glory." (Ecclesiastes 1:1-3 AMP.) Vanity...futility...vapor/mist...emptiness...falsity...and vain glory. The stuff that our lives revolve around...in the mirror of our vanity.

Solomon ends the Book of Ecclesiastes with these words..."The conclusion, when ALL has been heard, is: FEAR GOD and KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS, because this applies to EVERY PERSON...for God will bring EVERY ACT to judgment, everything which is HIDDEN , whether it is good or bad." (Ecclesiastes 12:13,14 NASB)

Packed between the beginning and the ending of the Book of Ecclesiastes...is a review of life and the "aimless cycles"...the "inexplicable paradoxes" of life...that we use to cover up the EMPTINESS in our hearts.

Solomon had it ALL...and none of it brought lasting happiness or peace. Someone once said that, "Money can't buy you happiness." Someone countered that statement with, "No...but it sure can make misery a little more comfortable."

I like to observe people. Don't you? I find myself watching people as they interact with each other...as they walk by...as they strut their stuff when they think everyone is looking...and as they go back into normal mode when they think no one is watching. People watchers (and I am one) watch people walk by and give a running commentary on fashion glitches....or give a rating on looks...or point out the psychological make up of that indiviual.
Guys...like to watch the ladies pass by...and give commentary on (1) the looks (2) the shape (3) and delusional comments about what they would do with certain ladies if they had 5 minutes with them.

Vanity of Vanities...all is vanity. Pleasures, hedonistic pursuits, materialsim, power (over someone or something), hoarded riches, winning the Rat Race...all futile...all like a vapor or mist that dissapates with the Sun.

We need to look in the mirror of our vanity again...and see our lives without God. We need to see the value of the gold we collect go from the gold standard...to as predicted in the Bible, a time when a piece of bread will buy a back of gold. We need to see the external aging process reflecting the inward mind and emotions slowly deteriorating before our eyes...as we pursue what brings momentary, fleeting, passing, pleasure.

NOTE: I like stuff. I like pleasure. I enjoy the good life. I hate that I find myself being consumed with the things of the world...to the exclusion of intimacy with my Father. As I review my life...as I look back..not only from my birth in 1951...but from the point of my new birth in 1970...I have come to this conclusion...

(1) There is nothing new under the sun. Sin is sin...whether it is back in the good old days our in the here and now. There is nothing new under the sun...in Rockvale Tennessee, Mbita Kenya Africa, Montana, Nashville TN, Iquitos Peru, down the Amazon River, on an island on Lake Victoria, or in Canada. Lonliness is lonliness...greed is greed...sexual immorality is sexual immorality. The only hope for nothing new under the sun...is everything new under the SON...THE SON OF GOD...D.B.R...NOTHING MORE NOTHING LESS.

(2) Stuff does not bring happiness. It may numb the pain of our miserable existence...but hedonism does not bring happiness.

(3) Religion sucks. The pursuit of man trying to get God to love Him through rules, regulations, attempted good works, rituals, condemnation, manipulation as a salvo of a guilty conscience. True religion...doing good, helping the poor, helping the widows (outward manifestation of an inward work)...is good.

As Solomon concluded after his reflection of cycles of life, human wisdom, pleasure and wealth, materialism, hoarded riches, political success, sexual success, work success...THE END OF THE MATTER:

1. Fear God
2. Know that He is
3. Revere and Worship Him
4. Keep His commandments

ECCLESIASTES 12:13-14

All has been heard. The end of the matter is, Fear God---know that He is, revere and worship Him--and keep His commandments; for this is the whole of man [the full ORIGINAL PURPOSE of His creation, the object of God's providence, the root of character, the foundation of ALL happiness, the adjustment to all in harmonious circumstances and conditions UNDER THE SUN]...and the whole duty for EVERY MAN. For God shall bring EVERY WORK into judgement, with every SECRET THING, whether it is good or evil." (The Amplified Bible)

Thanks for listening to me about MY condition. Thank God for Jesus. Someone once said that Christians use Jesus as a crutch. Andrea Crouch responded..."If Jesus is a Crutch then give me two. A crutch is a pretty good thing when your crippled." John Lennon stated..."Sometimes you can't hide...when you're CRIPPLED INSIDE." I heard someone say the other day..."Jesus is more than a crutch...he is a stretcher...I've can't even get off the ground without Him." We can't correct the Ecclesiastes observations of Solomon...without a Saviour. Jesus Hung Up...for our Hang Ups.

Love and Seasonal Kisses
Rodney "Under The Son" Boyd