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Tuesday | January 6
WHAT’S NEW?
Base Text: Ecclesiastes 1:4–11
“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9)
Solomon invites us to look at life from a hard yet honest perspective: life “under the sun.” From this viewpoint, everything seems repetitive, tiring, and lacking novelty. Generations come and go, but the earth remains. The sun rises and sets, the wind goes around and around, the rivers flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. Everything moves, but nothing truly advances.
What troubles Solomon most is not only the repetition of nature, but the repetition of humanity itself. Each generation believes it is more advanced, freer, and more intelligent than the one before. Yet the same mistakes keep being made, the same patterns repeat, and the same pains travel through time. Clothes, technology, and speeches change, but the human heart remains the same.
We long for something new, we achieve it, and soon it loses its shine. We chase novelty, but find only recycled versions of what has already existed. History repeats itself because humanity cannot create lasting meaning in life from what exists under the sun.
Solomon shocks us in order to awaken us. He wants to strip away the false hope that fulfillment, happiness, or purpose can be found in the fleeting things of this world.
This passage calls us to reexamine where we have placed our hope. If our lives are limited only to what is earthly, temporary, and visible, the result will be frustration and emptiness. Life’s sameness is not solved with more novelty, but with a new perspective.
Solomon gives us a powerful clue by repeating the expression “under the sun.” It suggests that there is something—or rather, Someone—above the sun. Only when we lift our eyes to God does life cease to be vanity and begin to have meaning. In Christ, our routine gains purpose, our difficult days gain hope, and even monotony becomes a place of faithfulness and purpose.
Jesus does not merely change our circumstances; He changes the way we see life. Above the sun, there is meaning. Above the sun, there is hope.
The true novelty of life is not found in things that pass,
but in the eternal God who gives meaning to everything.
Calvary Baptist Church of Flemington, NJ
Written by Eliakim Aquino
