Ecclesiastes I
…and there is nothing new under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:9 ESV)
New
In 7th grade, 8th grade, 9th grade, 10th grade, 11th grade, and 12th grade, I submitted what was basically the same paper as a major project each year. The skeleton remained the same, even though the meat on the bones had some variation. The paper wandered from a term paper about the solar system, to a discussion of the government agency, NASA.
There was apparently nothing new in my typewriter.
But the Preacher was not thinking about my lazy writing habits. Or my clever use of time. Instead, it seems to me that he was arguing against our human devotion to new things. To better things. To the improvement of things.
When there is nothing new under the sun.
If we seek new things, the place to look is beyond the sun, beyond the earth, beyond the physical world.
God is always new. Somehow, God also never changes. But our encounters with Him, our learning about Him, our relationship with Him, unless we are lazy, always brings the New.
His mercy is new every morning.
His forgiveness is new every sin.
His power is newly revealed constantly.
His love is newly understood as we live out our calendrical lives.
Seeking something new? God is the answer.