PINIMAGEThis morning, I am writing my blog on the new iPad I received for Christmas. When I sat down to write, I had to download the iPad version of the writing app I use. While the app was downloading, and I watched the circle spin, I noticed in very tiny letters, the words “in-app purchases.”
I’ve come to learn what that means. “Oh, we think you’ll love this app. And we have designed it in such a way that once you get the hang of it, you’ll want to upgrade and pay for more advanced features.”
I have to be honest; these “in-app purchases” get me occasionally. I buy the upgrade. I’ve got to hand it to the developers who want to keep the money coming in. “Hook them, then sell them on more.”
As I learn my way around my new iPad features, I find that, yes, it’s helpful and convenient, and for that, I’m grateful. But, even with the upgrades, it won’t solve the world’s problems or slow my aging or fulfill my deepest longing. It’s just a convenience that will eventually become obsolete.
What is it within us that is continually seeking the improvement, the upgrade, the miracle product, the next-best-thing?
Maybe it’s because we know we are not getting younger. Nothing is. As time passes, I get older. My house gets older. My pets get older. My possessions get older. NOTHING is getting newer.
In our kitchen, we actually have the dining table Mark and I purchased the year we married. It’s 23 years old. When we bought it, we loved the honey wood grain, and the Aztec printed fabric-covered seats. But that style is out, so instead of getting rid of it, we updated it. We stripped the wood tabletop and stained it lighter. We painted the chairs a pretty shade of grey. Then, I covered the seats with grey and paisley upholstery fabric.
Good as new! Kinda.
Although we did a complete overhaul on it, it’s’ still falling apart. The materials are wearing out. The chairs get wobbly shortly after tightening the screws. One of the armrests pulls off when you attempt the scoot in the chair. I’m not sure how much more use we can get from it before it falls completely apart.
Nothing is getting newer.
Have you ever thought about it? Maybe that’s why we are obsessed with upgrades. We are hoping that THE NEXT THING will satisfy our longing for more. Perhaps it will help us forget we are getting older. We reason that if we continue to seek upgrades and improvements, we can ignore that we are all headed toward the grave.
Insert record scratch here.
I know that’s not the most flowery thought. But the truth is, upgrades won’t stop the inevitable.
Let’s consider what King Solomon, the wisest king who ever lived, said about upgrades. “There is nothing new under the sun.”
Ecclesiastes 1:9 is the origin of what has become a common proverb. The verse reads like this: “What has been will be again, / what has been done will be done again; / there is nothing new under the sun.” As a modern idiom, “there’s nothing new under the sun” is often used as a world-weary complaint against life’s monotony. When Solomon wrote the statement, he emphasized the cyclic nature of human life on earth and the emptiness of living only for the “rat race.”
The phrase “under the sun” is used 29 times in Ecclesiastes and nowhere else in Scripture. The intended meaning in Ecclesiastes is that what happens “under the sun” in a life separated from God is universal—the point of view in Ecclesiastes is an earth-bound perspective.
To say there is nothing new under the sun means there is nothing really new on the earth. (THE FACT THAT MY KIDS ARE WEARING MOM JEANS BECAUSE THEY ARE BACK IN STYLE IS PROOF TO THIS POINT.)* All the activity of a man during his lifetime is lost in the grander scheme of things and will soon be forgotten (Ecclesiastes 1:11).
To say there is nothing new under the sun does not ignore inventions or advances in technology; rather, these innovations do not amount to any basic change in the world. In Solomon’s time, many advances took place in society, but, from the larger perspective of life, human nature has remained and always will remain the same.
(gotquestions.org) my thoughts added*
Upgrades aren’t going to do it. They never have and never will.
Ecclesiastes 1:1-11 says:
The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. 2 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. 3 What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?
4 A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. 5 The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens[ to the place where it rises. 6 The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north; around and around goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns. 7 All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again. 8 All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
9 What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. 10 Is there a thing of which it is said, “See, this is new”? It has been already in the ages before us. 11 There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after.
This blog post would probably win the award for being the “most depressing message” I’ve ever written except for ONE THING.
The Gospel.
I can’t leave you with the universal bad news without sharing the Good News.
The Gospel – the Good News of Jesus that rescues us from the tyranny of meaninglessness.
On Sunday, my husband, Mark, was preaching from Luke 18. In the passage, Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem and the cross.
31 And taking the twelve, he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. 32 For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon.33 And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.” 34 But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.
Luke 18:31-38
Imagine. That. Journey. I know if I were facing such a terrible event, I would’ve been tempted to talk myself out of going or made the whole trip about how difficult this choice had been for me. I would want everyone traveling with me to grieve with me and support me and know that I am doing a really great thing – to feel the weight of my sacrifice. Sadly, I would’ve probably been absorbed in thoughts of myself and what lay ahead.
But that’s not Jesus. In the next several verses, we see Him stop for a blind beggar. This beggar, ridiculed, and ignored by society, cries out to Jesus and captures His attention. Jesus stops.
Why? And why, especially at such a difficult moment? Of course, in the days prior, while Jesus taught on the mount, perhaps that would have been a good time to bless the riffraff. But in His own tribulation, He stops to SEE and SERVE the lowest of the low. Jesus heals him and saves him.
As I meditate on this encounter, I am deeply comforted. His actions assure us that what He was about to do on the cross was for EVERYONE who would cry out to Him and believe.
Jesus continued on to a cross, a tomb, and a resurrection. He conquered death for you, for me, and every forgotten, despised sinner who would turn to Him.
The Gospel ends all vain pursuits.
Friend, you can stop looking. Just look to Him. He did it all for you. And, it was a complete work. No upgrades.
Think about it.
The Gospel is so complete; no upgrade is needed. No matter who you are, if you receive the Gospel for yourself, you will never need an upgrade. You don’t have to save up money or improve your Klout. You don’t have to “have connections” once you turn to Jesus. You don’t have to make an “in salvation purchase.” NO.
Jesus paid it all.
When you turn to Him, you are immediately brought into the family of God as God’s own child and made a co-heir with Christ. That’s not all. God gives each of us His Spirit within us as a guarantee of our adoption and place in His family.
21And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, 22and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
2 Corinthians 1:21-22
Romans 8:12-17 says,
12So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
Romans 8:12-17
Friend, how about you? Are you continually seeking the next best thing? Are you looking to upgrade? You don’t have to anymore. Turn to Jesus. He is not the “next best thing.” He is the Eternal Best Thing. He offers you eternal life to you through His death and resurrection.
This is the Gospel.
And the Gospel has no upgrade.
