In January we usually have time on our mind. January is the month we set goals for the year, make resolutions, think about what happened in the year that has past, and anticipate what might be ahead of us in the year to come. One of the more famous verses in the Bible that talks about time is Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. The passage reminds us that there are certain seasons and important moments that happen in our life on earth. When we are wise we recognize those moments and seasons and take action accordingly. As we go into the new year let these words of God’s wisdom remind us how brief and yet important our earthly existence is. May we also remember that our existence is a precious gift from God–a time of grace in which we live through our ups and downs firmly focused on the Salvation we have in Christ. The last line of the poem draws a parallel between the poor, imperfect peace we might have here on earth and the eternal, perfect peace we will fully experience in heaven as God’s forgiven children.
There is a time for everything,
A season for every activity under heaven.
A time to be born, searing pain, pushing free,
Breaking out into air, draw first breath and see.
A time to die, feeble, broken with age
Or sickly or violently exit life’s stage.
A time to plant seeds in the soft, warm soil,
Grow them and tend them in seasons of toil.
A time to pull up and tear out and uproot
A plant that has died or won’t produce fruit.
A time to kill what endangers and fights
When to kill is allowed by God-given rights.
A time to tenderly care for and heal,
Nurse life back to health after painful ordeal.
A time to tear down something weak or unwise.
A time to build strong for a new enterprise.
A time to weep when dark sorrow descends.
A time to laugh, sharing joy with friends.
A time to mourn when the loss hurts deep.
A time to dance, celebrate and leap.
A time to scatter stones over the ground.
A time to gather, till each one is found.
A time to embrace, share love with soft touch.
A time to refrain when love requires as much.
A time to search hard and leave no stone unturned.
A time to give up when the hard truth is learned.
A time to keep what’s a treasure or need.
A time to throw out what exceeds what we need.
A time to tear up what was once all united.
A time to mend breaks and make all reunited.
A time to be silent—let silence speak loud.
A time to speak up and step out from the crowd.
A time to give love with word, action, and will,
As we see God has loved us and loves us still.
A time to hate when that hate agrees well,
With the hatred God has for all that’s from hell.
A time for war—armies crash, people cry
As doubt and disaster and death sweep by.
A time for peace to build lives and live free
To anticipate life as God meant it to be.
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