From Pastor Ben
Trivia:
Yesterday I ask you to guess which state has an underwater canyon as deep as the size of the Grand Canyon?
Was it California, Utah, New Mexico, or Wisconsin?
Well, it is the Monterey Submarine Canyon, in Monterey Bay, in California. It has steep canyon walls measuring a full 1 mile in height from bottom to top, which height/depth rivals the depth of the Grand Canyon itself. It is the largest submarine canyon along the West Coast of the North American Continent, and was formed by the underwater erosion process known as turbidity current erosion (better know by believers in God, as the flood).
Challenge:
Ecclesiastes 7:20:
"For there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin."
This verse reminds of us the limitation of human righteousness as is also noted throughout Wisdom literature. For instance, as it tells us of this in Proverbs 20:9 and Job 4:17,
"not a just man on earth: " The way that this verse is written reminds us of Solomon’s prayer when he dedicated the temple. (1 Kings 8:46, 2 Chronicles 6:36, Psalm 14:2–4, Psalm143:2, Proverbs 20:9). The very fact that this verse begins with "For" shows that it is vitally connected with what was discussed before this. You might be asking just what is the connection? The connection is that we all need the benefits of the wisdom that the Preacher (Solomon) has been describing because we are all imperfect. There is no one who is absolutely righteous in himself, who invariably does good and who never sins.
Generally, verse 20 is thought to be teaching the universality of sin, and that application is definitely a legitimate conclusion. But in this context, the verse also tells us just why we stand in need of a closer alliance with that wisdom which was just finished being described in verse 19.
Paul in Romans picked up this same theme where he says "there is none righteous, no not one." (Romans 3:10).
So, the pressure is off, gang, when you realize no one always does good. So don’t be disillusioned when one of your friends or sisters or brothers in the Lord doesn’t do what you think they should. We’re all nothing but sinners, saved by the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ.
SO GO WITH GOD, for He alone will never fail you and is ready to forgive.
I remember a time when the church we were part of in my childhood, due to lack of money had to cut the pastors salary. Due to this, the pastor had to take a job in order to be able to care for his family. My dad was a deacon at the time. Some of the people were upset because the preceding pastor was being paid considerably less than even with the cut the present pastor was being paid. The deacons tried to explain to the membership at a meeting that the previous pastor's wife was a nurse so they had determined that they were able to require less from the church in order to allow the church to erect a new building, and then gain in membership. All of these concerns were, in Dad's mind unreasonable and this resulted in the pastor leaving the church. I can remember Dad in family devotions talking about the lessons he learned from this struggle. His primary lesson was that the people who he had respected the most, were his greatest disappointment in their responses. Then he passed on this lesson to us, "Just because you are saved doesn't mean you will necessarily always be without sin in these times of turmoil."
I'm so glad that our Heavenly Father is rich in love and forgiveness for we all need Him to minister to us in this way during times of disappointment.