Something to Think About – 2020.05.15

As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.

Ecclesiastes 11:5

When the Pharisee, Nicodemus, came to Jesus under the cover of darkness, he is seeking the truth about The Mystery. He says, “No one can do these signs you do unless God is with him.” Jesus raises the bar by telling him that one must be “born again” to experience the kingdom of God. Nicodemus scratches his head in wonder as to how this could happen. (John 3:1-4)

Time and time again, I have seen people seeking The Mystery get bogged down like Nicodemus by their worldly knowledge. An anthropocentric worldview prevents them from stepping up into the infinite mystery of a Theocentric worldview. For those of you who need translation: Human-centered vs. God-centered.

The wisdom of The Teacher in Ecclesiastes invites the human to stop thinking we are the center and font of all knowledge, and enter into The Mystery that is God. He does this by providing contrast. His challenge; You don’t even understand how the spirit of life enters into a child who is forming in its mother’s womb, so how could you possibly understand the works of the Creator of creation?

This verse touches upon the main theme of the book of Ecclesiastes epitomized by a word that The Teacher uses no less than 32 times in the book. That word is “vanity.”

Vanity is a fun word. In the English language, more often than not it is used to talk about physical appearance. In Hebrew, however, it is synonymous with delusion, uselessness, worthlessness, futility, fleeting, fraudulent… Get the picture?

Better yet, the root of this word is basically vapor or wispy breath! Compared the The Mystery that is God, this what we are.

When we live with an anthropocentric or human-centered perspective, we begin to believe our own press that we are “all that and a bag of chips.” This phrase from the 90’s means that we think we are some kind of good, and a little bit extra. The Teacher points out that this is vanity! It is like vapor; barely visible and gone almost as fast as it came.

The Teacher and I invite you into The Mystery of the Creator of creation. The infinite ONE is so far beyond our comprehension that we should be humble before him and simply dwell in his love.

The Teacher and I invite you into The Mystery of the Savior of the saved, who gave up possessing only divinity and became humanity. Why? To help us to understand that there is something so much more than us to focus our lives on, and he says we are precious, honored, and loved! (See Philippians 2:5-11, Isaiah 43:4)

My friends, The Teacher and I invite you to welcome into your life the Spirit of spirits. He is the One who gives us life, breath, and everything.

Think beyond yourself, and dwell in The Mystery.