BIBLE PASSAGE:
Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions
never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
(Lamentations 3:22-23)
MEDITATION:
When Jesus is not a part of our lives,
we can experience many challenges that could have been avoided.
One those challenges is ‘boredom’; a feeling that life is nothing more than a ‘rut’.
Look at how Solomon (who is touted as being the wisest man in history)
described life from his perspective:
The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem: “Meaningless!
Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is
meaningless.” What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil
under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains
forever. The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises.
The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes,
ever returning on its course. All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never
full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again. All things
are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing,
nor the ear its fill of hearing. What has been will be again, what has been done
will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of
which one can say, “Look! This is something new”? It was here already, long
ago; it was here before our time. (Ecclesiastes 1:1-9)
Solomon goes on to give examples of his efforts to find satisfaction.
When reading the entire book of Ecclesiastes,
we can see all of the things he tried in his quest to be satisfied.
We also can see how his efforts caused him
to stumble into things that displease the Lord.
When the ‘wisest man’ paints a grim picture of life, it can be discouraging.
However, the good news is, we can learn from his wisdom
without having to travel the same roads of sin and despair that he did.
Look at his conclusion from all of his experiences:
Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind.
(Ecclesiastes 12:13)
Solomon realized that the world has much to offer, but it still leaves a person empty.
Some things may seem to temporarily satisfy or distract us from a gloomy life,
but the Lord is the only One who gives us permanent and lasting satisfaction.
Solomon tells us that for us to experience the Lord’s blessings
we need to “keep His commandments”.
Lamentations 3:22-23 tells us that God never runs out of His compassion.
He gives us a different outlook for living and a capacity
for embracing each day as a new and exciting experience.
His blessings will ‘never fail’, and they are ‘new every morning’.
ACTION:
Try to imagine a new life of anticipating every morning how the Lord will
bless you that day (without thinking of the past or the future, but only that day).
Since we do not have the mind of God, we can find it difficult
to understand how His blessings not only put us on a different path,
but they open the door for us to enjoy a new kind of peace, joy, and happiness.
We aren’t changing “ruts”, we are embarking on an exciting new journey!
From a personal viewpoint, when He called me to be a Sunday School teacher,
my initial thoughts were, “After a few years, everything will become redundant”.
However, after over 35 years of teaching, He continues to show me ‘new things’
every week (and some of them are from the same scriptures I have read before).
“great is His faithfulness” in providing new blessings every morning,
and I never expect, or anticipate any redundancy in whatever He provides.
Even when if the subject matter is similar, I have found that God
uses the same or different scriptures to reinforce His
important words for living and having a relationship with Him.
There have been countless times when He has revealed
a ‘golden nugget’ of His Word to be enjoyed by the class (and me).
Sometimes they are revealed during our discussions, and are not in my notes.
You can believe me when I say that serving the Lord is never boring!
Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for Your promises of making life more
enjoyable for me. You have seen how I fumble around searching for
happiness in many different ways and forgetting that because of Your
great love, You have all that I need. Help me in my efforts to obey
Your commands so that I can experience what true happiness feels like,
and enjoy the blessings You have for those who love You.”
blog: UTVOLWOODY.WORDPRESS.COM
BREAD FOR BELIEVERS 
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