There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: 2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, 3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, 5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, 6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, 7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, 8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. 9 What does the worker gain from his toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on men. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. 13 That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil-- this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him. 15 Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account (NIV).
Tension is a wonderful word used to describe much of the theology in the Bible. For example, there is tension between Jesus being human and God. There is tension between God being sovereign and humans having responsibility for their actions. Another tension is found in Ecclesiastes 3:1-15. Our teacher begins this section emphasizing the constraint of time on humans. There is a time for every action, and the wise person knows which action is appropriate for the designated time. But this is not the tension. The teacher introduces the tension in verse 11. He writes, “He [God] has also set eternity in the hearts of men…” (NIV). Here is the tension! Humans are constricted by time, but God has placed in us a sense of eternity. Our lot as humans is to live within time and crave eternity.
How do we live with this tension? First, be reconciled to the God who controls our eternity. This life is a shadow, and how we live today echoes into eternity. Will you live eternally with God as your delight, or will you be eternally under the wrath of God? All people will exist forever after physical death. Therefore, be reconciled!
Second, follow Paul’s command and “make the most of every opportunity…” (Ephesians 5:16). In the spirit of this passage Jonathan Edwards, pastor in the eighteenth century and one of America’s finest theologians, wrote, “Resolved: Never to lose one moment of time, but to improve it in the most profitable way I possibly can.”
An exercise:
Make a detailed account of your time for one week. Record how much time you spend sleeping, playing, working, praying, watching television, etc. Then consider how you spend your time. Do you redeem it, as Paul commands? How can you continue to improve your use of time? Do you approach each day seeking to make the most of your time on earth? What would your calendar look like, if you redeemed the time? What would you increase? What would you decrease?
Passages for Further Reflection:
James 4:13-17