Ecclesiastes 3

A Time for Everything

Tell me honestly, do you really truly believe this passage of Scripture? Do you really think there is a time to die, to uproot, to kill, to tear down, to weep and mourn? I get the feeling that as spoiled Americans we think life should be a bed of roses and that we should endure absolutely no hardship whatsoever. However, God is telling us in Ecclesiastes 3 that hard times are simply a part of life. So, we have to take the bad with the good and quit griping about it. We want to blame all the bad stuff on a mean, uncaring God, and we want to take credit when things in life are successful. Uh uh. That's not how my Bible reads. "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end." (Ecc. 3:11) You and I have absolutely no control over the events in our lives. God has it planned from beginning to end, and you and I cannot even fathom His plans. So, Solomon's advice is to be happy and do the best you can and leave the rest in God's hands.

Okay, I'm not quite sure where that soap box came from because I had not planned to write that first paragraph. So, if the shoe fits wear it. If not, then maybe you'll like the rest of this post a little better.

If you have time, will you read this chapter in The Message version? It just does a terrific job of putting it into every day language that you and I may relate to a little better. Then, will you respond to this post by writing about the verse that describes where you are in life right now? At some point in our lives, we will each experience all of the events and emotions described in Ecclesiastes 3. I'm just curious to know where God has you right now.

I am right in the middle of verse 6--"a time to keep and a time to throw away." I have recently packed up my entire house to move from Colorado to Oklahoma. (Yeah, I know, everybody's jaw drops here in Oklahoma when I tell them we left cool, colorful Colorado. Because every Oklahoman vacations in Colorado.) Anyway, I have had to make countless decisions about what to keep and what to throw away. And I thought I had done a good job of getting rid of excess cargo, but I have taken three more good-sized boxes to Goodwill since we arrived. What I have found, though, is that keeping and throwing away does not apply only to material belongings. It also applies to attitudes and thoughts and old habits and the way we do things. In what areas of my life would God like permission to perform a good housecleaning? What am I holding on to in my heart that needs pitched in the garbage?

Before leaving this chapter, I also want to comment on the writer's thoughts in verses 18-21. Did the writer actually think that we are no different than animals? Traditional Jewish teaching did not emphasize life after death because God's promises to the Israelites in the Old Testament focused on material blessings for obedience. When Jesus introduced the new covenant in His blood, He promised eternal life. Solomon did not have the benefit of knowing Jesus. He was looking forward to the Messiah. He had no assurance of life after death any more than his pet dog had. You and I, however, know differently. Jesus promised us in John 3:16 that God loves us and that if we believe in His Son we will not perish but have eternal life. In John 10:28, Jesus said He gives us eternal life and no one can snatch us out of His hand. John also tells us in 20:31 "But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." God wants us to know that we know that we know that we can live with Him for eternity in heaven. I'm gonna be there! Are you?