30th March 2024

30th March 2024


Pray (ACts)


Read (Ecclesiastes 9v11-12)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


Imagine the peace of mind we would have if we could honestly and accurately predict the future? We would be able to plan for the certain events of 15th March 2047 just as we would be able to prepare for the difficulties of 3rd October 2030. Nevertheless, it is not within our remit to predict anything with certainty.


Solomon looked and saw life’s unpredictability. The race was not won by the swift (v11a), the battle wasn’t won by the strong (v11b), the wise person didn’t always have bread (v11c), the intelligent didn’t always enjoy riches (v11d) and the one with knowledge wasn’t always blessed with favour (v11e).


None of this seems to make sense and we would much prefer it if life worked simply. In what way? A good person does good things and gets good rewards while a bad person does bad things and gets bad consequences. But we know all too well that this is not how things work. Indeed, life is full of events which come come by “time and chance” (v11f) or in other words, the moments that trouble us come unexpectedly and out of the blue.


Both death and trouble come at a time we do not expect (v12). We are like a fish happily swimming along before being caught in a net (v12b) or a bird hunting for worms before having our leg caught in a snare (v12c). The human experience is as Frank Sinatra once sang “riding high in April, shot down in May”.


In response we should flee from all arrogance. James would once say “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” (James 4v13-14). It is good for us to consider our frailty. Our lives aren’t forever and soon we like vanish like a morning mist.


Years before Solomon took his throne, Moses pondered some of the same issues and came to the conclusion that the Lord should teach us to number our days so that we might be wise (Psalm 90v12). That remains an important prayer. What have you been putting off until tomorrow? From whom have you withheld forgiveness? Have you settled accounts with the Lord? Take time right now to consider those questions and to remind yourself that you may not have the next fifty years or even the next fifty days. The reality of life has been accurately summarised by a billboard in Portrush “Life is short, death is sure, sin the cause, Christ the cure.”


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC


Q107 What doth the conclusion of the Lord’s Prayer teach us? The conclusion of the Lord’s Prayer, which is, For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen,” teacheth us to take our encouragement in prayer from God only, and in our prayers to praise him, ascribing kingdom, power, and glory to him; and in testimony of our desire and assurance to be heard, we say, Amen.
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