Wednesday, March 18, 2020

Verse of the Day 3/18

Verse of the Day 3/18

Ecclesiastes 3:11  He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.    New King James Version (NKJV)

Yesterday evening with all of the commotion and fears about COVID19, my wife Jean and I went out for a walk in the neighborhood.  We saw many families out for a walk as well, the kids not being concerned about the news, just enjoying being outside walking and skipping alongside their parents.  Spring was in the air and virtually all of the flowering trees were in bloom.  But to top it all off, the birds were all singing; seemingly at the top of their lungs.  We heard robins, cardinals, whip-poor-wills, and mockingbirds.  Truly, in spite of all things that are going on in this world God has made these beautiful things to help take our minds off of the not beautiful things.

Scientists who don't believe in God believe that this all (the flowering trees and the singing birds) all happened by chance and that the birds are not singing, they are just instinctively making these calls.  But who put those instincts in them?

A.W. Tozer writes, "Why doesn't the bird just squeak or groan or gurgle?  Why does he have to sing and warble and harmonize as though he had been tuned to a harp?... I think the answer is plain - it is because God made him to sing.... If I were a male bird and wanted to attract a female I could turn handsprings or do any number of tricks.  But why does the bird sing so beautifully?... It is because the God who made him is the Chief Musician of the universe.  He is the composer of the cosmos.  He made the harps in those little throats and feathers around them and said "go and sing"..... Thankfully, the birds obeyed and they have been singing and praising God ever since they were created."

Even in these uncertain times, may we do our best to find a reason to be joyful and sing the praises of the One who created all things, even if we don't have perfect pitch, God sees and hears from the heart of praise.

Perhaps you can find a recording for the song "Turn, Turn, Turn" from Ecclesiastes by "The Byrds".  How fitting.

--   In Christ,  Mike    Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com  Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,  in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV    

Ecclesiastes 3:9-15 English Standard Version (ESV)

The God-Given Task

What gain has the worker from his toil? 10 I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. 12 I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; 13 also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God's gift to man.

14 I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. 15 That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away.[a]

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