There Is Nothing New Under the Sun

Have you ever noticed how things we buy are fresh and attractive for a while but soon grow old and then we want a “new” thing? 

A new technology. A new trend. A new way to become happier, healthier, or more successful. While we evolve our core experiences of the heart remain the same, longing, envy, disappointment, purpose, and mortality. 

The phrase “There Is Nothing New Under the Sun” views life without God in the picture. It’s a view of life apart from God, looking only to the temporal and ignoring the eternal. 

It's easy to believe our generation faces problems no one else has ever experienced. The headlines are different, the technology is different, and the pace of life is certainly different. But beneath the surface, people are asking the same questions they have always asked:

• Why am I here?

• What really matters?

When we believe our struggles are unique, we often search for brand-new answers. But God continually reminds us that His truth is timeless and speaks to every generation.

'What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.'

• Ecclesiastes 1:9

At first glance, Solomon's words may sound discouraging. But they actually point us toward a profound truth.

The book of Ecclesiastes reminds us that history repeats itself because human nature remains the same. Every generation experiences the same cycle of ambition, success, failure, joy, sorrow, temptation, and longing. 

Solomon may not say it here, from the rest of the Scripture we learn that we can escape the cycle of “what has been”.  When we connect with God through His son Jesus Christ who makes all things new (2 Cor 5:17) and eternal (Rev 21:5) 

That is why God's Word never becomes outdated.

I once read about a man who compared life to an episode of Gilligan’s Island. He said the Professor could turn banana peels into diesel fuel and algae into chocolate fudge—but he never fixed the hole in the boat so they could get off the island.

In the same way, if we spend our lives mastering “under the sun” things but ignore the “eternal” condition of our lives, we will remain stuck.

If you want eternal righteousness, you can have it.

Today, remember S.U.N.

S — Seek His Kingdom first and His righteousnessWhat we seek, we will find. If we do not seek, we will not find.

U — Under the Sun is temporalSet your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

N — New life in ChristAnyone who is in Christ is a new creation; the old has passed away.

Prayer

Father, show me Your heart and fill my heart with Your love. In Jesus’ name, Amen.