LEARNING DAILY

 

Ecclesiastes 3:11, He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the works that God does from beginning to end.

 

The highlighted part of the verse was used in a sermon this past weekend. I decided to do a little more research on the meaning of God “put eternity in their hearts”. To best understand it, read the verses before; the writer of Ecclesiastes, probably Solomon, tells us there is a time for everything. Solomon writes that you and I do not always know or understand why God does what He does and when He does it.

 

God “created”, He made everything beautiful; all was created good. His plan was good! Everything that happens does so when it should. We often hear about God’s timing. We pray in the way the Bible teaches for something to happen and if it does not occur right away, we say it is not God’s timing - yet. So, we wait for His timing to be right. That does not help us to understand but it does help us to learn more about trusting God.

 

“He put eternity in their hearts”. You and I were created with eternity in God’s kingdom in mind. The notes in the David Jeremiah Study Bible help us understand what that means. “What God has put in the human heart (eternity) cannot be discovered or fulfilled through the experiences of this world because people are made for the next. Still, God has bestowed opportunities that He intends for people to redeem.” You and I were made to spend eternity in God’s kingdom. The opportunities we are given to redeem is salvation through Jesus Christ and then to have fellowship with Him now and forever in His kingdom. We admit that we are sinners and need Him to save us; He does so when we ask from our heart and then we walk the narrow way until we walk into His eternal kingdom.

 

Our walk on the narrow way includes understanding that God is sitting on His throne and in control of all things. We have to believe and trust in that. We walk the narrow way believing that He allows things to happen in our lives that draw us closer to Him, shape us into being more like Him by cleansing us. He knows what we need, when we need it and exactly how “it” needs to be done. Read verses 12-15. Solomon tells us to enjoy life and live it in the way God desires us to live it; it is His gift to us through His Son. Once you and I are in the right relationship with Him, submit our life to Him, He then gives us joy in what we do. We are not to fear life, we are to fear God (v. 14).

 

The Bible gives us glimpses of heaven. It tells us of a wonderful and beautiful place where there is no sickness, no pain, a place filled with peace and the love of God. His presence with us is no doubt the most wonderful aspect of eternity. Life is but a vapor (James 4:14). Eternity is a long time! God has placed eternity with Him in our hearts. Because we might not fully understand this, we can never become complacent in our walk on the narrow way. Our challenge is to always focus on the purpose for our lives that He has given us. We are to live by faith and trust in His sovereignty in every situation we face as we walk the narrow way into the kingdom of God!