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Sunday, October 26, 2003 Vertical LivingBeen thinking a bit about Ecclesiastes - which is odd for me, as I've found it too melancholy in the past. But today, I was thinking that while we don't hear much of God's voice in this book (ie. it's not His voice which is speaking in it to us), He's certainly speaking to us THROUGH it. We learn a lot from who Solomon was (perhaps the only living person to ever have that much of what this world can offer) and that seems to underline what he discovered through bitter experience - that it's all "meaningless".I liked the thought from yesterday's BSF leaders' mtg that Eccl. is about "horizontal" living - what results from simply living for and experiencing everything "under the sun"; whereas the extra dimension that is so clear in David's life is a vertical one - a faith that reaches far higher than the sun and a relationship with the living God that extends way above "everything under the sun". We see it in David's prayer life (psalms); in David's talking with God (and God's real-time responses), and in David's faith to trust God's responses to his questions and to act on them. And we see the vertical life in Ephesians especially (this is God speaking about His desire for man, which is far from meaningless) - eg. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places". God's children live knowing blessing (happiness) in HEAVENLY PLACES - ie. not "under the sun". Look at the way Paul puts the exact opposite of Solomon's experience "under the sun", in Eph3:14-19 "For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith - that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." That's vertical living!!! And similar thoughts in Col3: "If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth." One of the tremendous attributes of God is that He makes Himself available to mankind, to fill that aching need that nothing else can satisfy. I bow my knee before Your throne I know my life is not my own I offer up this song of praise To bring You pleasure Lord ("I Bow My Knee Before Your Throne", Bonnie Deuschle c.1990, Integrity's Hosanna! Music) # posted by geoff @ 8:45 pm 0 comments
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