Ecclesiastes 3:1
One of the greatest lessons to be learned in life is how to make the most of the time we’ve been given. Time is the most precious resource that you’ve been given. It is more valuable than gold. Each of us only have an allotted amount, and none of us truly know just how much time we have left. A poem expresses this truth well:
When as a child I laughed and wept, time crept.
When as a youth I dreamed and talked, time walked.
When I became a full grown man, time ran.
And later as I older grew, time flew.
Soon I shall find while traveling on, time gone.
Stewardship of life demands that we know what time it is, and this is largely the message of this third chapter of Ecclesiastes. The word ‘time’ is mentioned on 31 separate occasions in this chapter. Though we have eternity in our hearts, we are time bound creatures. We are born with a longing for another world, we live out our days as if life will go on forever, and yet we are not beyond the reach of time. Sooner or later, it will catch up with all of us.
If your gaze goes no higher than the sun, then it doesn’t seem to add up. It seems like time is actually working against me. It would seem that everything is random and without ultimate meaning as each passing moment brings me only one step closer to my death. Solomon, however, tells us something totally different.
The idea that he conveys here is this—there is a time and purpose for every season of life. Time is an instrument in the hands of a sovereign God who uses it for His purposes and for the good of those who trust Him. And no matter what time it is, our attitude can be that of the psalmist in Psalm 31:15—“My times are in Your hands.” We can always trust Him no matter the season we find in ourselves in.
For more, read Ecclesiastes 3:1-15
