We can’t find satisfaction in worldly things, but we can with God.   ~~~   What’s new? Have you seen any new movies lately? Read any new books? Been to any new restaurants? What’s the latest news? We crave the NEW don’t we? We love NEW cars, new shoes, new recipes, new information and new ideas. Christmas is still in the rearview mirror. I still have my tree up. We all unwrapped a bunch of new stuff. We should be good for a while right? Nope. We want more. A new ad comes across our screen and we want that new thing too. WOW, that’s new. I’ve never seen that before. I need that. It would make my life so much easier and so much better. It slices, dices, folds the laundry and mops the floor. SOLD! I need that in my life. See! We are never fully satisfied. Have you started something NEW this new year? Working toward a new you? Maybe a new diet or a new work out plan at your new gym membership, combined with new supplements and super foods mixed into your new smoothie maker? I think you get the idea. It gets to be a bit much! But it’s how we are living our life if we don’t wake up to the insanity of it all. Is it ever enough? While there is nothing wrong with new things, there IS something deeper to consider when it comes to what we desire and WHY we desire it. Could it be we’re searching for meaning in it all? I’m looking all this month at the word NEW and truths we find in scripture surrounding it. One of the first thoughts that came to my mind was, there is NOTHING new under the sun. In a world FULL of new things, how can it be true that there is nothing new under the sun? Let’s look at a bit more context of who said those words and what led him to say it. Ecclesiastes 1:8-11 All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing. What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one can say, “Look! This is something new”? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time. No one remembers the former generations, and even those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow them. If we know anything about King Solomon, we know, from what we read in scripture, that when it came to seeking out new things and wanting to have every new thing and pleasure under the sun, he did not deny himself much. He had everything, so why did he search for more? We can read why in 1 Kings 11. He had many wives. Solomon’s lust turned his heart from the Lord and idolatry followed. Pursuing all we want and desire in this life apart from God’s leading and way is a slippery slope that will lead to justifying sin and walking in disobedience to God. That’s where Solomon found himself. He was a failure and a disgrace trying to find meaning and purpose, he once found in God alone, in worldly pleasures and false beliefs. Doesn’t sound too far from where our world finds itself today, pursuing lusts and believing lies that have led once faithful servants of God down a road of self satisfying theology. If you walk too far down that road it’ll lead you to discover what Solomon did in his old age. There is nothing new under the sun and apart from God’s hand, everything is meaningless. That’s the truth. King Solomon concluded his very full life and all his wisdom with these final words in Ecclesiastes, “Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.” I’m Lori Cline.