What Really Matters: Ecclesiastes and Proverbs
These Things Too Wondrous
June 27, 2021 • Gerrit Dawson
There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not: The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid. (KJV) Proverbs 30: 18-19 found four things too wondrous to consider. But certainly there are more. Though the world is hard, evil is relentless and weeping abounds, there is yet much joy. The world is full of wonders. There is much for which we give thanks.
Fear the LORD
June 6, 2021 • Gerrit Dawson
Jesus said, do not fear those who can merely kill the body. Fear God who can cast your soul into hell. That gets your attention! And raises your hackles. We forget that Jesus was the scariest teacher that ever lived. Gentle? What’s gentle about “He who calls his brother a fool will be liable to the hell of fire” (Mt. 5: 22)? What’s safe about the man who said, “Many will say ‘Lord, Lord’ and I will reply, “I never knew you. Depart from me’” (Mt. 7: 22-23). Nobody scares me more than Jesus. And he meant to strike fear in us, to burst our bubble of safety so we could come awake to Reality.
Eternity in Our Hearts
May 30, 2021 • Gerrit Dawson
In spite of dying, hope does not die in the human heart, even when we want it to. God has set eternity into men’s hearts. We know there has to be more. But on our own we cannot find out what God is up to. We cannot solve the eternity ache. For centuries and centuries people lived only groping after the enigma of eternity and God. But now, the unknown God has been revealed.
Everything in its Season
May 23, 2021
Whatever season you are in, this present moment is open to you. To choose. To trust God. To give yourself to him. To do the next right thing. Right now. To everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven. The night has passed and the day lies open before us.
Trying Everything
May 16, 2021 • Gerrit Dawson
Existence seriously, sadly runs away. The time is short and all good things come to an end. Vanity of vanity all is vanity. But there is still life to be had. There are wonderful things to do: pleasures, work, design, treasure, art. The speaker in Ecclesiastes tried them all. He did everything. But he hadn’t yet learned that love, only love, is the inner lining that gives meaning to everything. Without it, nothing satisfies.