(This week’s devotions are based on Sunday’s message: Win the Day…Wind the Clock – LISTEN HERE)
Days and seasons…
King Solomon, the son of King David and third king of Israel, had everything one wanted from an earthly perspective. He held the top position in the country. He held more wealth than anyone in the world. He was granted godly wisdom to make decisions that were fair. He had relationships with other world leaders and respected around the known world.
Yet he too struggled at times to figure out the meaning and significance of day to day life. The book of Ecclesiastes reflects on the years he had and observations that make life sometimes seem without deep significance. The word that appears often is “Meaninglessness.” The word that is translated in this way is a word that means “breath” as well. Like your breath you “see” on a cold day, so are the days of mankind. They come and they go like a breath.
This term puts life in perspective so that I realize first that every day has the opportunities mentioned in yesterday’s devotion.
It also helps me realize that not everything will continue. As an example, after dropping our daughter off to school this morning, I realized that these days of spending the morning with her and driving her to school will soon fade as she gets her driver’s license sometime next school year. It caused a reflective moment, but also the reality that seasons of life change and each one has its blessings. The change in seasons isn’t bad or wrong, it just is. Solomon reflected this sentiment too:
Ecclesiastes 3:1 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, 5a 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, 8a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
Yet as we go through the seasons, some we can’t wait until they are over, and others we want to last. But here’s another observation Solomon makes. God has set eternity on our hearts. We WANT to live forever!
Ecclesiastes 3:9 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.
While we live life in a linear fashion from beginning to end. God is engaged in time from the end to the beginning. He knows the end and sets the desire on the hearts of people to live. And so he give us us each day to live, to enjoy the moments of each day, to see the beauty of creation, the blessings of relationships, and the satisfaction of work.
We also live with the understanding and confidence that life on this earth is simply a precursor to life in heaven forever. We don’t just have the desire to live forever, we have the promise through Jesus we WILL live forever!
So today, embrace today and the season you are in. While it may not be the most favorite season or set of events you will be facing, engage in your day to see the beauty, mercy and favor of God at work in your life!
Apply: What “season” are you in? What beauty do you notice in this season of life?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for the days that accumulate into seasons of life. Forgive me when I complain of the season I am in and direct my heart to see the beauty of each day and of each season you give me. AMEN.