The Daily Pulse of Immanuel

“I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man” (Ecclesiastes 3:12-13). The world is a cursed, broken, harsh hot mess. We know this. We feel it, and the book of Ecclesiastes makes this abundantly clear throughout. Yet Ecclesiastes also shares this wonderful, repeated theme: take pleasure (3:12-13, 5:18-19, 8:15).

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“One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple” (Psalm 27:4). Sometimes I come across a photo that is so breathtaking that I have to share it with others. I can’t help but be drawn to beauty and wonder. And that makes sense. Humanity is wired for awe. We scale towering mountain ranges and plunge into the ocean's depths, all in search of breathtaking beauty.

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“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence, there is fullness of joy” (Psalm 16:11). I don’t like being told what to do. Being commanded to do just about anything, at best, annoys me. (Usually, it makes me downright angry and resentful, so I start looking for opportunities to rebel.) This means that for the longest time, when I read verses like Psalm 119:47, which says, “for I find my delight in your commandments, which I love,” I had no idea what to do with it.

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“And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6). When God told Abram to pack up his family and leave the land of his ancestors, he did. When God told Abram to sacrifice the darling son of his old age, he tried—until God intervened. And yet we are told here that the reason God counted Abram as righteous is not because of anything Abram did for God, but because of what Abram believed God would do for him.

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“Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermostthose who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25). We would have every reason to despair if our eternal destiny depended on us. But thank God our hope and confidence is no ourselves, but Jesus, our great high priest. Consider his power. The text says that he is able. Jesus has the power and ability to deliver on his promises. We live in a world of over-promising and under-delivering.