by Tammy Phillips
December 4, 2021
“To everything [there is] a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:” (Ecclesiastes 3:1 NKJV)
We say we do not have time to do this and that. The word of God says there is “a time for every purpose under heaven.” The word season implies a stated or appointed time. The word “purpose” is the Hebrew word, hepes,meaning, delight and pleasure. In light of these facts, Ecclesiastes 3:1 could read like this:
To everything there is a season, an appointed, stated time, A time for every purpose, delight, and pleasure under heaven.
When we say we do not have time, that is a fallacy. Everything has an appointed time. The truth is we do not make time. We run around like “a chicken-with its-head-cutoff.” We let time manage us instead of us managing and stewarding the time we have been given by God. We have been given…
“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.” (Ecclesiastes 3:2-8 NKJV)
Life is monotonous and filled with “and’s.” All we have is time and time and time, until our time “under the sun” runs out. We have an appointed time to be brought into this world and to leave. We have time. What are we doing with our time? Are we managing it well? What “and” would you add to King Solomon’s list? Christmas shopping? Time with your spouse or children? Time with the Lord praying or reading His word? Life is the same cycle over and over again, but we have time to do whatever we want or choose to do.
We cannot waste our time and stay in any one place too long because we might miss the appointed time. Why do we squander our time confessing how sick we are? The Bible says there is “a time to heal.” There is an appointed time to mend. Step into it. There is a time to weep and mourn, but don’t stay there too long; we all so have an appointed time to laugh and dance. Move into it. God…
“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.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11 NKJV)
God made “everything beautiful in its time.” I would add, and not so beautiful past its time. When we leave something in the oven too long, it burns. Milk past its date sours. Men past their God given time to choose Jesus as Savior equals death, eternal separation from God and an eternity spent in the lake of fire. God “has put eternity in their hearts.” Eternity in the heart of every man is looking for more than the monotonous routine of life. Man is looking for eternity and man is seeking more time. It can only be found in Jesus.
I enCOURAGE you to invite Jesus into every area of your life. He will give you more time now, and for eternity. With the time God gives you, Holy Spirit will “instruct you and teach you the way to go” (Psalm. 32:8), IF you call on Him. And when it’s time to go and leave the “under the sun,” He will welcome and escort you into eternity. “There is a time for everything.” Don’t miss your time.
“Many a man lost his soul, as Saul did his kingdom, by not discerning his time. Esau came too late; so, did the foolish virgins. If the gale of grace be over-past, the gate shut, the drawbridge taken up, there is no possibility of entrance.” (John Trapp)
Complete in Him 