September 21
Grasping for the wind?
Ecclesiastes 4-6/Matthew 23-24
OT
4:9-12 Two people can accomplish more than twice as much as one; they get a better return for their labor. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But people who are alone when they fall are in real trouble. And on a cold night, two under the same blanket can gain warmth from each other. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.
5:2 And don’t make rash promises to God, for he is in heaven, and you are only here on earth. So let your words be few.
NT
23:13 “How terrible it will be for you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you won’t let others enter the Kingdom of Heaven, and you won’t go in yourselves.”
:37-39 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me. And now look, your house is left to you, empty and desolate. For I tell you this, you will never see me again until you say, ‘Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord!'”
OT Flash Points
Fools! Chasing after passing things
NT Flash Points
Actors! Chasing after empty self indulgences
All this will pass away but My words will never pass away
Don’t be caught with the actors, fools
They will be in eternal torment
Perspective
I am created for God
Sin has sidetracked the human race
But has not changed God’s purpose one bit
Jesus can meet God’s demand for His nature to be in us