Lesson 323: "New To You"
How often is a sermon something that is brand new to you? A sermon/message is made up of scripture that you need to hear. Maybe it’s something you have already heard many times and you know it by heart but you simply need to be reminded of what God has written down. Perhaps the sermon you hear will be something God has told you to do that you have not done yet. “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecc. 1:9). Solomon claimed that things that appear to be new, both in nature and man, are simply a repetition. Nature repeats itself with seasons, time is cycled by years and etc., and what is new to you is only man’s endeavor to invent.
Things are only apparently new because people do not recollect former actions, events and accomplishments. Ecclesiastes is not intended to deny human creativity but to deny the complete newness of people’s accomplishments. One example given by the commentaries is the discovery of America and the journey to the moon. Although different in both time and methods were still explorations of distant places. Another example mentioned is the invention of dynamite and the atom bomb. These two events share the discovering of explosives. I will add one more to the “older than 60 group”, hip-huggers. These pants were quiet popular in “my day” but I must admit that the “huggers” of today are a tad lower than the “huggers of old”.
The bible is the oldest book in the world, written over a period of 1500 years. Fifty bibles are sold every minute. The bible is the world’s best selling book AND the world’s most shoplifted book. The bible has been banned and burned and those refusing to turn over their bibles to be destroyed were burned with the bibles hanging from their necks. This book is protected by God Himself; “heaven and earth will pass away but my Words will never pass away” (Matt. 24:35). The Words in the bible are of no value as mere letters on paper. We cannot strengthen others and feed the sheep until we have spent time with the Shepherd. “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me. THEN I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you” (Ps. 51:12-13).
God’s highest passion is to get His children home and He has provided a Book that describes His plan of salvation (2 Tim. 3:15). How do we find what God’s purpose is through the Bible? “Ask and God will give it to you. Search and you will find. Knock and the door will open for you” (Matt. 7:7). “The Helper will teach you everything and will cause you to remember all that I told you. The Helper is the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name” (John 14:26). Physical hunger is not satisfied by eating 21 meals in one setting once a week. Spiritual hunger is not satisfied by attending worship once a week. God sends spiritual food the same way He sent the manna. He sends just what you need when you need it. “A command here, a command there, a rule here, a rule there, a little lesson here, a little lesson there” (Isa. 28:10). A steady diet of God’s Word over a lifetime builds a healthy soul and mind. Open this old book every day and find something NEW TO YOU!