Up the Fire Tower - Friday December 26, 2014
"Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher, "Vanity of vanities! All is vanity." A generation goes and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. Ecclesiastes 1:2, 4
Last summer John and I decided-well, John decided, and I thought I'd go along for moral support-to climb Longs Peak in the Colorado Rockies. We began our conditioning by running up and down the fire tower in a nearby park-ten times a day early in the morning. Auuggh!
The fire tower was covered with a massive amount of graffiti: steps, railings, and platforms at each level. I appreciated "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" on the second flight of steps. "Apart from Me you can do nothing" also rang true. The names and comments everywhere else, including raunchy ones, were enough to wear me out mentally. Twelve locks hung from the railings at the top, lovers' covenants. True love?
The third day we did our ten ascents the Park Service had visited, sprayed over the graffiti, and cut off the locks. What struck me was how futile the whole operation was-names appeared, disappeared, and new ones reappeared over the next few days. The fresh graffiti was a lot worse in moral tone than what had been painted over.
Reading graffiti or watching news on TV is reason to be depressed-"All things are wearisome"-not much hope. I'm so glad Ecclesiastes is in the Bible! God is not unaware of Murphy's Law and the "grievous task" of life and the useless round of existence-apart from His redemption. Only in Him do we have eternal hope and reason to rejoice. My favorite piece of graffiti (now painted over) I'll leave with you: "Go in peace and serve the Lord."
Submitted by:
Dotty Vanderhorst
Cornerstone Community Church
Overland Park, Kansas
One-Year Reading Plan:
Zechariah 9:1-17
Revelation 17:1-18
Psalms 145:1-21
Proverbs 30:32
[Read
Online]
© 2024 Great Commission Association of Churches, Inc All rights
reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system, without permission
in writing from the publisher.
Online Bible Services provided by
The Bible Gateway (TM) a service of
Gospel
Communications Network.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCB-ES: Unless otherwise identified, Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible B) The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are from the Holy, Bible, New International Version, copyright B) 1973, 1978, 1984 by InternaB-tional Bible Society; (NKJV) are from New King James Version B) 1982 by Thomas Nelson; (NLT) are from the New Living Translation, B) 1996, Tyndale House Publishers; (ESV) are from English Standard VersionB., B) 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers; (TM) are from The Message B) 1993 by NavPress Publishers.