APR 10

Ecclesiastes 1:8-11
Memorise Genesis 1:31
“Is there anything whereof it may be said, See, this is new?”

As Solomon stands and considers nature, he sees that it is so full of movement, activity, as what he describes as ‘labour’. In the midst of all this, man can never fully comprehend or explain all these movements. He can never finish seeing or hearing all of the works of nature. Before the mighty waves of the sea, the gusts of wind, and the heat of the sun, man is indeed so small, and so insignificant. Our lives here on Earth are so short, and we will experience only that many sunrises and sunsets, before our end comes.

Through all this, he observes that there is no end to it. Everything will just continue in the way they were, and there is no new thing under the sun. The mighty forces of nature are fixed, and nothing that happens can be considered to be something new, for nature has been around since the beginning of time, and has continued in its way ever since. Everything is fixed, and will continue in its daily pattern. There is no remembrance or record of what has happened in the past, and neither shall anything that is to happen be remembered. Man prides himself in the legacy that he would leave behind, by striving after all manners of accomplishments in his life. But really, compared to our Creator God, the awesomeness of nature and the rushing tide of time, even the greatest of men are but a footnote and a short sentence in the historical records of the world.

In light of all this, what is man? What great things can he do to effect any change at all in God’s works of creation? Can he change the patterns of the weather? Can he alter the direction of the sun? Can he make wind to blow in the way he wants it to? For all the scientific advances that man has accomplished, he has yet to control nature. Indeed, there is no invention of man that has not already been seen in God’s grand design of nature. In fact, for all our ‘scientific advancements’, we are only beginning to understand a small fraction of God’s amazing works of creation. God in making this world had already planned and designed all things. Man is but slowly discovering nature, and learning to use it for his own purposes. But the essence of nature itself remains unchanged. Therefore man, and all his wisdom and pride, is but folly and futility, when compared with the might, power and constancy of nature.

Thought: All things bright and beautiful, the Lord God made them all!
Prayer: Lord, may You grant me a humble heart to appreciate Your wisdom and glory.