The Attic

           I used to wiggle my way into the attic when I was a kid and explore what things were stored there.  One of the items I enjoyed looking at was a 78 rpm record with the name of Thomas Edison on it.  The record was about 1/4 inch thick.  Things have changed since the "Edison" record.   Inventors are continually trying to make something new.  Progress seems to be made by the amount of new ideas that materialize into some product.  The television presents a continual parade of new ideas that are supposed to make our lives easier.  I recall one such product that would be able to clean your whole floor by simply turning it on and letting it go by itself until it had finished the job.  It was a robot vacuum cleaner.   It had a pretty high price on it.  But, it has fallen to the long list of other things that were presented but never really caught on.  The same product is now a feature at a store called “Big Lots” where items are sold at reduced prices as they are bought up by that company and offered at great savings from the original price.  The writer of the Book of Ecclesiastes makes an interesting observation.  He says that there is virtually no new thing under the sun.  In fact, he spends a great deal of time with the phrase “under the sun” which occurs 27 times in the Bible and only in this particular book.  Ecclesiastes 1:9 says, “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.”  
       This concept is important to us as it states that there is no new thing under the sun.  That is, tragedy, joy, sorrow, death, sickness, prosperity, poverty and all other characteristics of life are the same now as they were during the life of the writer of Ecclesiastes.  There is nothing that is new.  This is an answer to the critics that say that they Bible is out of date and does not apply to the things of today’s world.  On the contrary, the Scripture is just as applicable today as it was 3,000 years ago.  Man’s problem and God’s solution are still the same.  We continue to try to invent new things to make our lives easier, but the basic problem of sin still exists and the only solution is the one that God gave us.  There is only one way and that way is through God’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.  So, if you are perplexed by what’s going on in your life, take heart as you scan God’s Word because He will take care of you just as He took care of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  Praise God today for His working in our lives and solving all of our problems.