“To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1
When we’re “co-laborers together with God” (I Cor. 3:9), we know that “we’ll reap in due season” (Gal. 6:9) because of the One Who “gives the increase and gives every man his own reward according to his own labor” (I Cor. 3:6b, 7b-8).
The question, then, is “What time is it?”
We know there are various seasons in the more temperate climates. There’s Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. In the more tropical climates there’s the rainy (monsoon) season and the dry season. In agriculture there’s the time for planting, cultivating and harvesting. And, when it comes to life, as Solomon points out in today’s Manna, there’s also a “season and time everything under the heaven.”
But, again, the question is “What time/season is it in our lives?”
Solomon shows there’s a time for everything in our lives: “A time to be born. . .and a time to die. A time to plant. . .and a time to harvest. A time to mourn. . . and a time to dance. A time to break down. . .and a time to build up,” etc., etc., etc.
We know those things very well, without being told.
All we have to do is just keep on living and observing. And, it won’t take very long before we realize that life is a “series of seasons” or “cycles;” yet, they are all moving forward in a linear way to that Time when all of them will cease.
On every tombstone there is a birth-date and a death-date. For every seed sown there is the potential for a harvest reaped. Times of laughter may soon turn to seasons of weeping (and vice versa). There’s a time to speak up and a time to keep silent.
But, nowhere in all of these contrasting truths is there the hint of reincarnation—i.e., if we don’t get it right this go-round, we’ll come back and try it again. No, dear Pilgrim, we only go through this life once and once only (Heb. 9:27). The question, then, is “Did we get it right?”
“What do you mean?” someone asks with a nervousness in his/her voice.
Well, simply this: During your “time/season” here on earth, what did you do with what God gave you? Did you invest it wisely? Did you “spend” your life in service to Him and others? Or, did you hoard all of His blessings and turn your life into a reservoir instead of a “consecrated conduit”?
But, even more than that, “What did you do with Jesus?”
THAT is the question of the ages.
Did you surrender your life to Him as Savior and Lord? Or, did you only give Him an occasional nod every now and then or call on Him only when you were in need?
Truly, in every one of our lives there is a time of “sowing, growing and mowing.” So, back to our original question: “What time is it?” May your answer be “It’s time to seek/trust the Lord.” Amen and amen.
July 14, 2011
