Christian Reflection and Prayer

Scripture:

“‘Meaningless! Meaningless!’ says the Teacher. ‘Utterly
meaningless! Everything is meaningless.’ What do people
gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun?”
Ecclesiastes 1:2–3


Under the sun” refers to life on earth. The unwritten law of
the physical world we live in is “he who dies with the most
toys wins.” People dedicate their lives to acquiring the
nicest homes, the fanciest cars, and the latest technological
craze. However, at the end of life these things don’t matter at
all. You can’t enjoy your toys when you’re dead, and since
that is everyone’s destiny, what’s the point of working toward
all those useless things in the first place?

Solomon teaches that nothing we can accomplish
“under the sun” has real, lasting value. However, there is also
life “above the sun.”

Above the sun exists another world, the spiritual world. That
is the only place where anything we acquire has true worth.
And the types of things we can acquire that have real, lasting
value aren’t things at all. They are our good deeds and service
to God. Only these things will be with us forever, and only these
things have meaning.

As we sit in our flimsy huts with their insubstantial roofs, we
realize how fleeting and vulnerable anything we build in this world
truly is. Our vision isn’t clouded by a sturdy, secure roof which
blocks our view of the great expanse beyond the sun and moon.
We can see past all that and recognize that life “under the sun”
is only a corridor. Above the sun is where we will ultimately live,
and it is only there that life earns its meaning

With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein

(excerpts from Holy Land Moments)

Scripture:   

“Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.”
— Psalm 139:7–8

Reflection:

God is always watching what we do – both the
good and the bad. There is nowhere to run, no
place to hide. Yet, God’s omnipresence is also
comforting. In this lonely world, we are never
alone. “If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.”

We may stop running. There is no way to run
away from God; anywhere we go, He’ll be there.
And that’s a good thing: “even there your hand
will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast”
(v.10). Wherever we may go in this life, we are
with God, under His protective care. Truly, there
is nowhere else I’d rather be.

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

Scripture:

Their only suggestion was that we keep on helping
the poor, which I have always been eager to do.
Galatians 2:10, NLT

Reflection:

The apostles were referring to the poor of Jerusalem.
While many Gentile converts were financially
comfortable, the Jerusalem church had suffered from
the effects of a severe famine in Palestine and was
struggling. So on his journeys, Paul had gathered
funds for the Jewish Christians. The need for believers
to care for the poor is a constant theme in Scripture.
But often we do nothing, caught up in meeting our own
needs and desires.
Perhaps we don't see enough poverty to remember the
needs of the poor. The world is filled with poor people,
here and in other countries.

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP?