Looking Back

Ecclesiastes 7:10

“Do not say, “Why were the former days better than these?”  For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.”

We all look back fondly on the days of our youth and think they were better than the days in which we now live.  Married couples like to look back on their earlier years of marriage and think they were the best years. Or parents look at when their children were younger and think those were the best times.  

But, in truth, there are many ups and downs in every period of a person’s life.

If we know God, we know that each day we live is a gift from God.  Each sunrise is another day unfolding in the love and mercy of God.  Each sunset represents another day spent in God’s ever unfolding plan of redemption.

God is the same today as He was yesterday.   

No day spent with God is any better than the next.

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  (Romans 8:38-39)

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

Seek with God

Ecclesiastes 5:7

“With many dreams come vanities and a multitude of words; but fear God.”

People dream of becoming famous, rich, powerful, educated, having joy in their lives, finding peace, finding happiness, finding love. 

\Throughout our lives we may seek these things.  Some people may find them.  Others search their entire lifetime and never do.

The writer of this scripture warns us that nothing in life is meaningful or lasting without God.  Without God, His love, His grace and mercy, His forgiveness, and His gift of salvation, our dreams evaporate like words spoken into the wind.

Seek your dreams, but seek them in the company of God who so loved the world that He sent His beloved Son to save it.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

The Gift of Humility

Ecclesiastes 5:1

“Guard your steps when you go to the house of God; to draw near to listen is better than the sacrifice offered by fools; for they do not know how to keep from doing evil.”

Worship is an act of humility.  To truly worship we must humble ourselves before God.  This kind of humility is achieved in the heart and is not an outward act.  

We receive God’s gift of humility when we first realize our sins and our sinful nature; when we first realize that Christ is our savior and that He offers us forgiveness and redemption.

It is this humility that we are to carry in our hearts when we pray, when we worship,  and when we serve.  

Humility is an acknowledgment that Christ is our Lord and Savior and that our souls are lost without Him. It is not a sign of timidity, or fear; it is an indication that we know where our true strength lies. 

When we approach God, we are to guard our steps so that we do not pray, worship, or serve in an attitude of arrogance or selfishness.

“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble,” (James 4:6)

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

The Meaning of It All

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

“1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: 2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; 3 a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5 a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6 a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away; 7 a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8 a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.”

Without God’s presence, all of life would seem meaningless and tiresome, as it did to the writer of Ecclesiastes, who cried out that all of life was in vain. Without God's presence and sovereignty, everything in life would be without eternal value or significance.  

God gives us eternal values that enable us to transcend the material life into the spiritual, to see value in the ordinary, to see God in other creatures, to see God’s creative hand in nature.

And in each season, there is God…

giving life meaning

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

Material Things

Ecclesiastes 2: 4-8

“4 I made great works; I built houses and planted vineyards for myself; 5 I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. 6 I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves, and had slaves who were born in my house; I also had great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me in Jerusalem. 8 I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and of the provinces; I got singers, both men and women, and delights of the flesh, and many concubines…

11 Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it, and again, all was vanity and a chasing after the wind and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.”

Twenty-five years ago, my father died.  I was with him the last two weeks of his life.  During that time, the meaning of this passage was never more clear to me.

At the end of our lives our bank accounts, our houses, our cars, our properties will have no meaning.  The material world’s grip on us will be loosened.   

The spiritual, eternal things will be the things that matter most to us, such as love; the love of God, the love of Christ, the love for our family and friends.

The writer of Ecclesiastes warns us that the true meaning of life cannot be found in  a life obsessed with chasing things that rust, decay and fade away.  

Happiness found in material things is temporary at best.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal;” (Matthew 6:19) 

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

Hope in This Life

Ecclesiastes 1: 14-15

“14 I saw all the deeds that are done under the sun; and see, all is vanity and chasing after the wind.  15 What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be counted.”

Things in this world often seem beyond our control, or out of control.  There are many crooked roads that will never be straight, and many people who will always be hungry and in need of shelter.

Christ came to us to make the crooked paths straight; to restore us; to redeem us; to transform us into a people of love, mercy and compassion for one another.  

Christ came not only to give us the hope of eternal salvation, but to give us hope in this life; the hope of a better life, a higher life; a life where people live in peace and unity and reach out to those in need, and those who are lacking.

“for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’”(Matthew 25:35-36)

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

A New Day with Christ

Ecclesiastes 1:2-9

“2 Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. 3 What do people gain from all the toil at which they toil under the sun? 4 A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. 5 The sun rises and the sun goes down, and hurries to the place where it rises. 6 The wind blows to the south, and goes around to the north; round and round goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns. 7 All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they continue to flow. 8 All things are wearisome; more than one can express; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, or the ear filled with hearing. 9 What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun.”

Sometimes life seems as if it repeats itself; that we are caught on some sort of giant , never ending merry-go-round.  We get up in the morning.  We eat breakfast.  We go to work. We eat lunch.  We leave work.  We go home.  We eat dinner.  We watch TV.  We go to bed.  And we get up the next day and do it all over again.

The difference for Christians is that we do all these things with Christ and the Holy Spirit of God.  We get up with Christ.  We eat with Christ.  We work with Christ.  We travel each day with Christ.  The sun rises and sets each day with Christ.

And for everyone who is in Christ, the Holy Spirit is creating in us a new creation.

No day is the same with Christ.

Each day is a new day in the love of Christ.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)