I have always been impacted by the writings of Solomon. In Ecclesiastes, he reminds us, “There is nothing new under the sun.” What is being done has been done before.
One of the things I glean from this is we must be students of history. If not, we are doomed to repeat it. Because of this, it should be our goal to learn from the mistakes of those who went before us. The irony today as in years gone by, is instead of learning from those past mistakes, people seem destined to repeat them.
Many are doing so by choosing to follow the prevailing sentiment regarding political and social issues which are being used to divide our nation and world along every imaginable line.
All this happens in the name of change and though this may ultimately lead to change, the change that comes, may not be for the better.
Again, looking back, we can see that people following the masses is nothing new. Throughout history we have seen this unfold as a group or an individual finds a way to motivate or manipulate people to push their agenda forward.
Many times, those following and professing to share those views have no idea of the reason or purpose behind the issues being used to stoke the flames of dissent.
I believe this continues to happen as people are driven to hold to beliefs and opinions they do not understand and cannot explain. For many, this all stems from the need to relate to and be a part of the group.
The willingness to have “the faith not to follow” requires a completely different mindset.
Here is where we must stand up against the popular opinions and views attempting to reshape our world. This requires us to believe in something more than the echoes of the voices droning on all around us.
“The faith not to follow” is a faith that is sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This type of faith can only be found in Christ Jesus. It is there we can find the strength to stand up and stand out. It is faith in Jesus that reveals and reminds us of the truths of the past as they unfold in the present.
So today, we must ask ourselves what kind of faith do we have and how is that faith being lived out as we decide whether to follow Jesus, or to follow the crowd?
If we find ourselves walking along with the crowd, we may not realize it, but we have already made that decision.
Ecclesiastes 1:9, “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun”.
