Ecclesiastes 3 reminds me how time modifies our perspective. This poem could only have been written by someone that has lived a long time. These words have been read at celebrations and during times of critical emergencies, during times of joy and sorrow. The truth behind these words is so undeniable that even anti-everything protesters nod in agreement. Solomon begins, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens“. It seems that he is looking back in his mind, remembering specific events as he writes. “A time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal… to tear down… to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter… a time to gather… a time to search and a time to give up… a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.” In gentleness, he exhorts the reader to let go and move on. Remember, learn and begin once more because God “has made everything beautiful in its time“. Today begins a new season; Spring is here again, it is a new day.
Next Solomon makes a clear distinction between God and His creation. God is changeless and eternal. “He has also set eternity in the human heart; yetno one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” All mankind can do is “eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil this is the gift of God“. In contrast, “everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it“. God has perfect understanding, while mankind is corrupt. With man he explains, “In the place of judgment wickedness… in the place of justice wickedness“. Nothing is hidden from God, “God will bring into judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time to judge every deed“. In case you do not know, God’s standard is perfection.
Solomon closes with the words of the skeptic, “As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals… Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals. As one dies, so dies the other“. If man and animal are the same, “Everything is meaningless… all come from dust, and to dust all return“. He asks the question many fear to ask. “Who knows if the human spirit rises upward… For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?” The apostle Paul said plainly, “if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain” (1 Corinthians 15:14). Here is the reason for my hope, Jesus declared to you and me, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). It is this reason that Paul can say without hesitation, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new… God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:17-19). God loves you enough to die in your place so you may have complete forgiveness from your sin. Is today a time for you to receive His peace?