relay race

Posted on July 3, 2013 by Jefferson Vann

IMG_1235Ecclesiastes 2:18-23

The preacher considered all his hard work and discovered a problem.  Even if he built a great empire by forcing himself to work hard, he had no guarantee that his work would survive the generation.  He could not trust that any of his plans would outlast his breath.  It lead him to despair.  The question of “what?” was temporarily replaced by the question of “why?”  Life, he discovered,  is a relay race, and he had no certainty that there will be a fit athlete to take over the torch when he reached the end of his portion.

LORD, we put our hope and our confidence in you, not our work.

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perhaps you may be hidden

Posted on July 3, 2013 by Jefferson Vann

IMG_1236Zephaniah 1:1-2:3

Judgment is going to take place.  There is no doubt about that.  But God’s people are challenged to gather and seek him and his righteousness in humility.  Perhaps they will be spared on that great and terrible day of the LORD. 

LORD, we seek your kingdom and your righteousness.  Hide us from your terrible wrath.

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wise, crazy, or stupid?

Posted on July 2, 2013 by Jefferson Vann

IMG_0152Ecclesiastes 2:12-17

The Preacher’s second experiment was to focus on making himself a wiser man.  He considered three options: being wise, being crazy, or being stupid.  Part of learning wisdom is the acceptance that even it made no difference in terms of his inevitable outcome.  The grave awaits all three types of man.  So, just as accomplishment was – in the end – not significant enough to give his life meaning, neither was wisdom.  Even seeking wisdom was striving after the wind.

LORD, protect us from the deceit that life is about how wise we can become.  Life is about our relationship with you.

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Nineveh gets hers

Posted on July 2, 2013 by Jefferson Vann

IMG_0151Nahum 3:5-19

Shame, fear and destruction will come to Nineveh: the same shame, fear and destruction that she has meted out to her neighbor nations.  Why should the God of Israel waste time sending this message from his prophet?  He cares about Nineveh, and showed that care by sending Jonah.  But this time, there appears to have been no repentance.  Nineveh got hers.  How many times has the LORD sent his word to us, pleading for us to repent?  We cannot escape Jesus Christ. He will either be our Savior or our judge.

LORD, renew our minds, so that we respond to your word.  May we be like Jonah’s Nineveh, not like Nahum’s Nineveh.

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not enough

Posted on July 1, 2013 by Jefferson Vann

IMG_1240Ecclesiastes 2:1-11

The preacher’s first experiment was to do whatever he wanted to do.  Personal pleasure in accomplishment was his objective.  He set his mind to build, to get richer, and to add more and more to his possessions.  He was building an empire, all along observing himself and his accomplishments to see if any of his successes would give meaning to his life.  His conclusion was – not really.  It was all vanity.  It did not really gain him anything.  There was a missing element to his success.

LORD, give us the wisdom to know that all we can do is not enough – even if we succeed.

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the bloody city

Posted on July 1, 2013 by Jefferson Vann

IMG_1234Nahum 2:1-3:4

Nahum calls Nineveh the bloody city, which was probably the name given it by the Israelites and others who had felt the violence of its attacks.  The prophet described in vivid detail one of its attacks, but with Nineveh as the victim.  The LORD would return its violence upon its own head.  The heaps of corpses would testify that the LORD does not allow such sin to go unpunished. 

LORD, we fall at the foot of the cross, and plead his blood as atonement for our sins.  Do not give us what we deserve. Give us your grace, for we fear your justice.

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an unhappy business

Posted on June 30, 2013 by Jefferson Vann

IMG_1288Ecclesiastes 1:12-18

It is a mistake to think that the more one knows, the happier one will be.  The preacher learned this lesson well.  He discovered that the more he learned about the world around him, the less comfortable he felt.  As his knowledge increased, his sense of futility and despair increased.  The more he desired to treat life as a hands-on experience, the less he was actually able to change for the better.

LORD, give us enough knowledge of this world, that we are wise enough to seek answers from another one.

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a complete end

Posted on June 30, 2013 by Jefferson Vann

IMG_1282Nahum 1

The Ninevites are at it again, and this time God is determined to obliterate them.  He has his tolerance for evil, and will allow the wicked time to repent, as we saw in Jonah.  But when a nation, a people, or a person consistently does evil in his sight, and does not repent, he will make of them “a complete end” (9).  They will be “consumed like stubble, fully dried” (10).  The LORD promises his people a peace so thorough that “never again shall the worthless pass through you; he is utterly cut off” (15).

LORD, forgive us for our unfaithfulness.  Make us a people who survive to your peace, not a people who come to an end.

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no remembrance

Posted on June 29, 2013 by Jefferson Vann

IMG_1281Ecclesiastes 1:4-11

Do the Preacher’s words still apply?  Surely we can now record life achievements and art and wisdom for later years?  Surely our history makes great actions worth while?  But the same could have been said of written remembrances in Solomon’s day.  Why, then, does he say that there is no remembrance?  Why does he say there is nothing new?  Surely there are new inventions and medicines?  The Preacher’s point is that our lives come to an end, and nothing we do can stop that.

LORD, we cling to you, the eternal one, for our significance.

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a forgiving shepherd

Posted on June 29, 2013 by Jefferson Vann

IMG_1280Micah 7:14-20

Micah lived among a people who had forgotten about God.  But Micah held on to two theological truths which stubbornly refused to fade away.  The LORD is a great shepherd who had brought his people where he wanted them, he can do it again.  The LORD has the capacity to forgive so completely it is like having thrown the offending sins into the depths of the sea.  When things looked their worst. Micah held to what he knew about God. 

LORD, may our understanding of who you are sustain us when nothing else seems to work.

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