Thought for January 9

 History:

• 1811: First women's golf tournament
• 1866: Fisk University opens
• 1959: "Rawhide" premiers
• 1960: Building of Aswan Dam begins
• 1976: "Convoy" is #1 on country music charts
• 1991: Baseball bans Pete Rose from HOF
• 2001; Apples announces iTunes
• 2007: Apple announces iPhone
• Born: Carrie Chapman Catt [founded League of Women Voters], Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney [founded Whitney Museum of Art], Richard Nixon, Lee Van Cleef, Judith Krantz, Bart Starr, Bob Denver, Dick Enberg, Joan Baez, Crystal Gayle, Dave Matthews, Sergio Garcia, Kate Middleton
• Died: Pete Dye, Bob Saget, Russ Ullery [son of Curt and Judy Ullery]

Thought:

Well, Congress is back in session as I read a passage I marked in Ecclesiastes 10:17-20. Here is a truth that certainly applies to nations, but also can apply to me and my house.

• A land is blessed when the king is noble. We often call kings nobility, but the real issue is--is the king noble? Nobleness is the quality of high moral principles and high ideals. America The Beautiful has us sing, "May God thy gold refine, til all success be nobleness and every gain divine." Where are our noble leaders? And do we really want noble leaders? Or do we look for leaders who pander to our wants and "needs." Like in the church, do we want leaders who tickle our ears with rhetoric, or do we seek leaders of high moral character, those who model their lives on the most noble One-King Jesus. On a personal level, is my family blessed with a noble Larry? Is my church blessed with a noble member? Lord do not let me settle for anything less than nobility in my life and in the leaders I seek. 
• A land is blessed when princes eat at the right time. This may seem strange. What does eating at the right time have to do with being blessed. Look back at 10:16--woe to the nation whose princes eat in the morning. Here the picture is those that eat before completing their work. Rather than leading, they start the day feasting. To me this says, don't be celebrating before you have worked. Sounds a little like Belshazzar's feast in Daniel 5. The enemy is surrounding the city and the king calls for a banquet. God has an answer and writes on the wall. Today, are our leaders feasting, doling out money while the country decays away? Or am I feasting and resting while those around me face an eternity without God. God blesses when we are about our Father's business.
• But beware when 
• Men prepare meals for enjoyment---food becomes our god, we do not eat for sustenance. Obesity becomes the norm. Earlier in this book we read, "the sleep of the laborer is sweet, whether he eats little or much; but the full stomach of the rich person does not allow him to sleep." [5:12] In Philippians 3:19, Paul describes the wicked--"their god is their appetite." 
  
• Wine makes life merry. Here I understand that Jesus commands us to be sober and alert. When people use wine to cover their emptiness, sadness and hopelessness, the nation is in trouble. Today, this might also apply to drugs used to calm us, make us mellow. 
• Money is the answer to everything. Here is the one that spoke to me. We live in a society where money is the answer to everything. Schools are failing---more money. Can't get people to volunteer---more money. I see it in my own life--just give the grandkids some money and they will be happy---but maybe they would like to see me. Homeless in need--give them some money. Sadly, money cannot buy the things that everyone needs--love, joy, hope, peace. Only Christ can provide those--and they are free. 

Lord, in 2023, help me to remember these truths. 

Blessings

Larry