“To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted; A time to kill, And a time to heal; A time to break down, And a time to build up; A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones; A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing; A time to gain, And a time to lose; A time to keep, And a time to throw away; A time to tear, And a time to sew; A time to keep silence, And a time to speak; A time to love, And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace. What profit has the worker from that in which he labors? I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1-13 NKJV
This is some famous scripture that you’ll hear in an old hippie song from the 60’s or maybe it was the 70’s. Anyway, it’s cool in and of itself that it was a popular song having such clear bible verses in it. That’s another thought though. My thought for this morning is in reference to the last sentence:
“I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice and to do good in their lives, and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor-it is the gift of God.”
This is huge! Huge! Or how does Trump say it? YUGE! Haha! Sorry. I degrees. It is so big! Nothing is better. Nothing! Rejoice and do good while eating and drinking and enjoying your work.
Ecclesiastes is a book written by Solomon, the son of David. He was a very wise man and this book contains his 3 basic points of life which are
1) When one looks at Life with all its paradoxes and crazy events, one might conclude that it is pointless. He acknowledges what we all go thru this feeling of purposelessness every day I would imagine.
2) Nevertheless, life is to be enjoyed to the FULLEST, realizing that it is a gift from God. Live with love in all you do! Do it with love because it is a gift from God and God IS LOVE!
3) The wise man will live his life in obedience to God, recognizing that God will eventually judge all men. Proverbs 1:7 says, “The fear of The Lord is the beginning of knowledge; but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
Fear The Lord. Do you fear the hand of your parent when you’re young? I mean, if they were parents who used discipline of course. Mine did. I totally feared that hand and my own belt for that matter! But I did not think that my mother was trying to be oppressive or that she didn’t love me. This all works because He made it this way. He has our lives work better when we follow His instruction. It just simply works better that way. Long and short of this rather long post is this:
Have fun! Enjoy this life! Do good to others! Be loving to everyone! EVERYONE! And be mindful of God and His desire for your life. Listen for Him to guide you. Have a servant’s heart and let Him be the One to decide your next steps. He’s already laid them out for you.
God is good, all the time!!!