“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1
January 6, 2025
Being at the head waters of a new year is a good time to think about time. New seasons, new days, weeks, and months, and new challenges face us. Are we the masters of our fate and the captains of our souls? We would like to think we are, but we are not. Who is in control or who or what is it that determines our future? If you believe our universe and time is all due to chance, you are left with a world and life view without God. The book of Ecclesiastes invites all of us to consider life without God. To cut to the chase, Solomon’s punch line is that life is to be lived by fearing God and enjoying life (Eccles. 12:9-14). One whistle stop through Ecclesiastes (3:1-9) tells us that time is planned by God. All our activities are under divine control. Everything in life is part of the eternal (3:14), immutable (3:14), inscrutable (3:11), providence of God which leaves a person’s toil profitless (3:9). Does this baffle you? Good, then stay with Ecclesiastes. The best thing to do at this point is to stop, think, and revisit what or who it is that gives meaning to life.
H
“We ought to watch and pray because of the shortness of the time, the seriousness of the hour, and the shallowness of our nature.” Vance Havner