Christianity Oasis Forum

[cimi]

July 21
Tuesday


ETERNITY
IN OUR HEARTS

READ
Ecclesiastes 3:9-17
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He has put eternity in
their hearts.
__Ecclesiastes 3:11
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I once came across a scene of beauty outside Anchorage, Alaska. Against a slate-gray sky, the water of an ocean inlet had a slight greenish cast, interrupted by small whitecaps. Soon I saw these were not whitecaps at all but whales__silvery white beluga whales in a pod of feeding no more than 50 feet offshore. I stood with other onlookers, listening to the rhythmic motion of the sea, following the graceful, ghostly crescents of surfacing whales. The crowd was hushed, even reverent. For just a moment, nothing else mattered.

The author of Ecclesiastes would have understood the crowd's response. He sees with dazzling clarity the beauty in the created world and that God "has put eternity in their hearts" (3:11). Such an elegant phrase applies to much in human experience. Surely it hints at a religious instinct. Our hearts perceive eternity in ways other than the religious.

Ecclesiastes presents both sides of life on this planet: the promise of pleasures so alluring that we may devote our lives to their pursuit, and the haunting realization that these pleasures ultimately do not satisfy. God's tantalizing world is too big for us. Unless we acknowledge our limits and subject ourselves to God's rule, unless we trust the Giver of all good gifts, we will end up in despair. __Philip Yancey
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`````````````````````Amid the measured music``````````````````
`````````````````````What watchful ear can hear`````````````````
```````````````````God's voice amidst the garden?````````````````
`````````````````Yet hush! For He is here! __Charles``````````````
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To make the most of today, keep eternity in mind.

**************Today's Bible Reading __ Ecclesiastes 3:9-17*********

9 What profit has the
worker from that in which
he labors? 10 I have seen
the God-given task with
which the sons of men are
to be occupied. 11 He has
made everything beautiful
in its time. Also He has
put eternity in their hearts,
except that no one can
find out the work that God
does from beginning to
end. 12 I know that nothing
is better for them than to
rejoice, and to do good in
their lives, 13 and also that
every man should eat and
drink and enjoy the good
of all his labor--it is the
gift of God. 14 I know that
whatever God does, it shall
be forever. Nothing can be
added to it, and nothing
taken from it. God does it,
that men should fear before
Him.

15 That which is has
already been, and what is
to be has already been; and
God requires an account of
what is past.

16 Moreover I saw under
the sun: In the place of
judgment, wickedness was
there: and in the place of
righteousness, iniquity was
there.

17 I said in my heart, "God
shall judge the righteous
and the wicked, for there
is a time there for every
purpose and for every
work."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Man is time-bound on earth (Eccl. 3:1-8). Because he was created
in God's image, man has a connectedness with eternity and
a consciousness of living forever (v.11), albeit a marred consciousness
(for "no one can find out the work That God does from beginning to
end," v.11). There is a time for everything (v.1), including judgment
(v.15). "God shall judge the righteous and the wicked" (v.17), see
also 11:9; 12:14, Heb. 9:27). __SIM KAY TEE