a time for everything

Good morning brothers and sisters,

Today's reading compliments yesterday's. While there can be a sense of futility in the fact that life repeats itself, there is also a rhythm. There is a time for everything, so take this time to reflect and also to enjoy. Whatever we have is a gift from God. We need to be wise with our gifts, but also to find joy in our work and in our rest. 

God's blessings for the year gone by and the year to come,

Sam

Ecclesiastes 3:1-15
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: ²a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; ³a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; ⁴a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; ⁵a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; ⁶a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away; ⁷a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; ⁸a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. 

⁹What gain have the workers from their toil? ¹⁰I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with.¹¹He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. 

¹²I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; ¹³moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil. ¹⁴I know that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God has done this, so that all should stand in awe before him. ¹⁵That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already is; and God seeks out what has gone by.

work and enjoyment

Good morning sisters and brothers,
Today's reading continues yesterday's passage from Ecclesiastes. The author has seen that everything has its season and has seen the busyness God has given everyone to be busy with. Furthermore, he has seen that for people there is nothing better to eat and drink and enjoy life. Ecclesiastes wrestles with life's impermanence and the fact that often it feels pointless. A lot of the time we don't feel like we're getting anywhere. The reality is that in life, nothing is perfect. Even in the parts of life where things should be most righteous, there is still wickedness. As hard as we try, we will never be perfect and neither will any one else.

That doesn't mean we should give up, but it means we should take life with a grain of salt. God will judge and set everything right in the end. In the meantime we are called to seek God's will, to work hard and enjoy our labor, and to enjoy the blessings of life God has given us.

Happy New Year, be safe, and God bless,
Sam

Ecclesiastes 3:12-17

12I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; 13moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil. 14I know that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God has done this, so that all should stand in awe before him. 15That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already is; and God seeks out what has gone by.


16Moreover I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, wickedness was there, and in the place of righteousness, wickedness was there as well. 17I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for he has appointed a time for every matter, and for every work.