March 20, 2014.

“What gain has the worker from his toil? I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”
(Ecclesiastes 3:9-11)

I was sitting in my first class today and we were discussing an article in the business section of the news paper about scientists in Europe who were experimenting with rewriting DNA to fix some genetic disorders. We got on the topic of how reliable the source was and if it was promising research or it it was unethical, but what I gathered from the conversation was the arrogance of the human race. We all think we are correct. Especially us scientists. Think about it: we live in the time of “cutting edge” technology, and “intelligent scientific thought.” We trust that our research is completely unbiased and absolutely true, even if we don’t claim to believe that.

But are we really in the age of enlightenment? You do realize that these “ancient” scientific ideas that we laugh at today were once thought to be the “cutting edge” of though, right? When the geocentric model of the universe was well established (the thought that the earth was the center of the universe), the evidence that we had at the time all pointed to that model. You could look up at the sun and see that it was moving around the earth, as were the stars. It was not a wild and crazy idea. Most of the things we believed, especially as you get closer and closer to this age, had scientific evidence to back it up. Granted, that evidence has now either been better explained or revoked, but at the time they were just being guided by the tools and observations they had. Are we not doing the same thing today?

What’s my point? It is simply this: what if the science we believe in today will in 50 years be outdated and laughed at? I would almost guarantee you that at least some of it will be. What then will be thought of all the arguments and doctrine of scientists and non-scientists today? Sometimes it is good to look at it from this perspective. A good scientist will tell you that the more he or she learns, the more they understand how much we really don’t know.

Solomon knew this fact a long time ago. In the verse highlighted above, he says that God has set eternity in our hearts, and that we are not able to fully understand the creation set before us. Nor will we every be able to fully understand it. We might make some headway, but it will simply reveal miles and miles to go. Solomon was dismayed at this, because he had set out to learn it all, but all he learned was that he would never be able to learn it all. Sometimes I think God looks down and laughs about what we think we know about his universe.

It’s great to wonder about God’s mighty creation. It’s great to learn about it. God has set eternity in our hearts. To seek him. To see him. To glorify him. Amen.

Suggested Daily Reading: Ecclesiastes 3, 8, Acts 17, Romans 1.

May the love of God reach you.

-Walter