What will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. – Ecclesiastes 1:9
When studying events from the past, it is enlightening to recognize reoccurring scenarios. This is how the cliché “history repeats itself” came to exist. The writer of Ecclesiastes, Solomon, makes interesting observations about God’s sovereignty over all time and events, even the repeating ones. He closes the book by acknowledging God as the ultimate Judge weighing the actions of humankind according to His perfect law, “for God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:14). As history marches along, humanity is repeatedly given the opportunity to choose God’s way. Does this sound familiar? Have you noticed these opportunities in your life as well?
Many people get lost in regrets from the past. Be assured, God does not let you remember your mistakes to condemn you. Far from it! He leads you to remember your sin to deliver you from it. Repentance is not feeling sorry for your choices in the past, it is turning the other way when faced with the same circumstances again in the present.
You can certainly look back and see the mistakes in America’s past, but have you stopped to pray about what you see in history? Ask God for new opportunities for justice to reign in American courts of law. Use your resources to support public officials who have the courage to face “the same old problems” in new and God-honoring ways. Do the same in your life. Repent and go God’s good way, looking for new blessings as you go.
Today’s Verse: Ecclesiastes 1:9
What has been is what will be,
and what has been done is what will be done,
and there is nothing new under the sun.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Recommended for further reading: Acts 17:26-31
26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 for
“‘In him we live and move and have our being’;
as even some of your own poets have said,
“‘For we are indeed his offspring.’
29 Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. 30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
