God-shaped Void
Opening Prayer
Lord of heaven and earth, keep me from making my aim that which is dust in the wind.
Read ECCLESIASTES 1:1-11
[1] The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem: [2] “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” [3] What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun? [4] Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever. [5] The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises. [6] The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course. [7] All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again. [8] All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing. [9] What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. [10] 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. [11] No one remembers the former generations, and even those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow them. Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Do you find true satisfaction in God?Most of us accept the maxim “No pain, no gain.” But how do we respond when, having endured the pain, there’s still no satisfactory gain? The Teacher grappled with this issue. Observing the daily routines of nature and life, he made three dismal deductions: no lasting gain (3); everlastingly wearisome cycles (6-8); and no lasting legacy (11).Today’s passage evokes a profound sense of weariness and discontent. Despite our endless busyness and bustling about, there remains a void that’s never truly nor fully filled. Solomon laments, “The eye never has enough of seeing” (8b). The truth is that “there is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus” (Pascal, Pensées). Solomon’s observation deck stands on planet Earth; but from the vantage point of heaven, and in the light of that most glorious Son of David, we have the priceless promise that one day we will experience the indescribable joy and fulfillment of actually seeing God face to face (1 Cor. 13:12).
Apply
Give free rein to your imagination as you express to God your deepest longings for heaven.
Closing prayer
Father, this world is not my home. Open my eyes so that I may know what is of worth and call others to it.
Click here to sign up to receive the EXTRAs via email each quarter.
© 2024 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited.
Discovery is published in the USA under license from Scripture Union England and Wales, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0DF.