| Good Morning Everyone, Our theme for this month: “Resilience” Our Bible verse for today: “When I considered all that I had accomplished and what I had labored to achieve, I found everything to be futile and a pursuit of the wind. There was nothing to be gained under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 2:11 (CSB) Our thought for today: “Keep the main thing the main thing.” The book of Ecclesiastes is essentially twelve chapters of ruminations and regrets as an old man looks back upon his life and finds himself wishing he had lived it differently. Interestingly, the author was Solomon, a king, the leader of God’s people, a man who had been blessed by God with wisdom beyond anything possessed by anyone else of his day. This was not some pagan king. Also, many casual readers of Solomon’s story in Ecclesiastes commonly (and incorrectly) conclude that Solomon’s problems were mostly just wine, women, and song. Well, that was part of his problem. A big part of it. But during those decades Solomon also lost himself in many other pursuits that would usually be thought of as being good. He pursued massive public works building projects; he assembled the most powerful military force in the world of his day; he acquired incredible knowledge about the most important subjects and sciences; he developed and implemented effective governmental systems; and so much more! But in the end, as he looked back on it, he concluded it was all futile and a chasing after the wind. Why? We can understand that his boozing and schmoozing might be cause for regret, but what about the accomplishments? His problem was that he didn’t keep the main thing the main thing. Solomon lost himself in the agendas of the world and forgot that the rule and reign of God is the umbrella under which God’s people are to participate in those secondary agendas. And also, that we are to participate in those secondary worldly agendas only to the extent to which they contribute to God’s purposes. Solomon lost himself in the agendas of the world and that took him away from, and out from under, the rule and reign of God in his life. We do this too. We exhaust ourselves in our enthusiastic involvement in the secondary agendas of the world such as politics, social issues, careers, hobbies, etc., and we often lose sight of, and drift away from, the rule and reign of God under which everything else is supposed to be happening. Resilient Christians resist allowing this to happen. We learn to live as kingdom citizens working to accomplish the Lord’s agenda. As we participate in the secondary agendas of the world, we do so only in ways that respect and honor kingdom principles, and we strive to use our involvement in those secondary agendas to help advance kingdom objectives. We’ll talk more about this tomorrow. For now, I challenge each of us to join Solomon in his reflections. Consider if your involvement in the secondary agendas of the world have become too much, too all-consuming, and if perhaps they’re taking you away from God and His purposes. God Bless, Pastor Jim |
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Oak Hill Baptist Church 
Ecclesiastes is one of my favorite books of the Old Testament. And one of my favorite words of the Bible is “Meaningless!!!”. My former pastor used to remind us to “major on the major and minor on the minor.” Always sound wisdom for a Christian. Thank you.
Jim Goodrich
Sent from my iPad