January 1, 2019
Ecclesiastes 3:1-13 Good News Translation (GNT)
If someone looked you straight in the eye, demanded honesty, and asked if you were really enjoying the life God gave to you what would you say? Would your answer come forth because of what you don’t have or what you have lost? Or, would your answer come from realizing your journey is a gift from God and everything your life touches has passed through his care for you?
In our passage today, King Solomon journals this letter. He has been reflecting and looking back on his life. Much of his life has been lived apart from God. He married wives who served foreign gods and his convictions and relationship with Yahweh suffered because of those choses. However, even though Solomon stepped away from God, the Lord remained faithful to him because God had made a promise to his father, David.
Because of Jesus, God has made a promise to us, as well. We are to enjoy our lives in connection to Christ. If you are not enjoying your life, chances are you are facing a conflict involving God’s timing. On the first day of this New Year, get into agreement with God and begin to enjoy your life in his favor. Life is a gift from God for you and your attitude about God’s timing in your life is pivotal. Happy New Year to all!
Ecclesiastes 3:1-13 A Time for Everything
3 Everything that happens in this world happens at the time God chooses.
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He sets the time for birth and the time for death,
the time for planting and the time for pulling up,
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the time for killing and the time for healing,
the time for tearing down and the time for building.
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He sets the time for sorrow and the time for joy,
the time for mourning and the time for dancing,
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the time for making love and the time for not making love,
the time for kissing and the time for not kissing.
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He sets the time for finding and the time for losing,
the time for saving and the time for throwing away,
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the time for tearing and the time for mending,
the time for silence and the time for talk.
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He sets the time for love and the time for hate,
the time for war and the time for peace.
9 What do we gain from all our work? 10 I know the heavy burdens that God has laid on us. 11 He has set the right time for everything. He has given us a desire to know the future, but never gives us the satisfaction of fully understanding what he does. 12 So I realized that all we can do is be happy and do the best we can while we are still alive. 13 All of us should eat and drink and enjoy what we have worked for. It is God’s gift.
Prayer: Lord, you are my Spirit of peace and in this New Year my prayer is to remain in your peace as each day I face the timing of things you choose for my life. You know best and I want to completely enjoy my life. In Jesus’ name. Amen.