So…What’s New?

Ecc. 1:9 "What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun." ESV

Well, here we are…a new year. Fresh beginnings. 2011 is past, 2012 is coming and things can be different. Things can be better. After all, that is why we make New Year's resolutions isn't it? We think we can get smarter, or thinner, or wealthier, or more productive, or ________________ (fill in the blank). I think that. I know that there are some things that I want to change. There are some things that I would like to accomplish this year.

So, what is with Solomon? Wasn't he wise and productive and wealthy and healthy? Didn't he accomplish positive things? What is with his attitude here in the book of Ecclesiastes that "vanity of vanity all is vanity" (v2) and "there is nothing new under the sun"? Isn't this pessimistic or fatalistic? Or is it realistic?

It is obvious that Solomon was writing this in his later years. He had seen and heard and experienced anything and everything that a person could want or desire. All of the wealth, all of the recognition, all of the glory, all of the power, all of the greatness, all of the knowledge and he arrived at this conclusion…it is all "grasping for the wind". (v17) Tough stuff. Here is the wisest guy that ever lived coming at the end of his life to this conclusion.

So back to New Year's resolutions. Does this mean we shouldn't make them? Since there is nothing new under the sun, should we just float by and let things happen? I don't think that is what Solomon was getting at. I think that Solomon realized that this life does not consist in all of the stuff you can get, or all of the knowledge you can obtain. Our society seems to concentrate so much on the next best thing. The newest and shiniest. How can I top what I did last year? And Solomon is saying: "Stop." I think that he is encouraging us to get our priorities straight. I think he wants people to get their minds off of what can be accomplished on this earth and instead take an eternal perspective, because we really can't experience or accomplish anything new on this earth…but we can find our purpose and fulfillment in what is to come. This life and the junk it provides may give short term enjoyment, but it will never really satisfy.

So as I think about the New Year, I need to keep an eternal focus. A kingdom focus. A heavenly focus. Back to the basics: "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and everything else will come." Matt 6:33 (My translation.)