A Time For Everything

English Standard Version Chapter 3

2 a time to be born, and a time to die;

a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;

This verse tells us that sometimes there are seasons in life to be investing in things (like school) we have to be looking forward to our futures and saying what is it that i have to focus on now so that I can create a future. The bible is telling you that there is a time to plant things and to invest in things so that you can later on harvest the things that you have planted.

What is it that you have to plant this year? Is there something that you have been putting off that you know you need to get done? Well tackle it! Let 2019 be the year where you give birth to new dreams and start planting seeds that you can harvest 1, 2 or even 10 years from now.

English Standard Version Chapter 3

3 a time to kill, and a time to heal;

a time to break down, and a time to build up;

This verse is saying that we are not perfect. We often develop habits that are not for our good. We watch to much tv, eat to much junk food, spend too much time playing video games, are too addicted to social media. This is trues of everybody, I know it is true of me, for instance, when I was in a band I used to derive my self esteem from people telling us how good our shows were and how much they liked our albums. However, that was a very fickle thing to get my self worth from. I was like a roller coaster — I would have moments where I felt on top of the world like when the time our band won Rock Album of the year or the time we were getting a record deal and there were days when I felt down and out because our show didnt go as well as I hoped. This is not a good way to get your self worth . We can not rely on other people to tell you that you are valuable, that you are good enough, that you are worthy of love. No, and this is an example of what this passage is talking about when it says there is a time to kill (a time to break down). Sometimes you have to kill parts of yourself, you have to kill bad habits that you have aquired so that you can heal and that you can build. Believe it or not, I still care what people think of me. However, it is no longer where I dervive my self worth, I had to kill that part of me that said I am only valuable if other people think I am cool. And once I killed that part of me, once I broke that part of me down, I was a broken individual BUt I was also a person who could now start healing and I could rebuild myself. Now I derive my self worth based on this fact — I am a child of God — and He has told me this message — He loves me and he has a purpose for me.

What is it that you need to kill this year? Make a mental note of that

English Standard Version Chapter 3

4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

This verse acknowledges the fact that there is suffering in this world. The bible is saying that there are going to be times in life in which the only proper response is weeping and mourning.

15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. .

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

Perhaps you have a a broken family, or you a struggling over a broken relationship. These are reasons to cry and moreover, if we have people in our lives that are going through these hard times then we are called to emathize with them and to acknowledge there hurt and to be a brother and a sister to them. But the biblical message doesn’t just end here. Suffering isnt the whole story. If you are struggling — Christianity says two things. First, it says this to will pass — although it might be painfull right now, there will be a new morning where you will feel joy again. Secondly it says that there is a great hope that God will make every wrong right.

When you have

This year, in 2019, you should be that person who is weeping with your friends and family who are weeping, you should be pumped and excited when good things happen for people. you should be there biggest fan. And if you are currently having a hard time, know that this to shall pass.

English Standard Version Chapter 3

5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;

a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

This is actually one of the harder passages to make sense of in this poem. However, one of the interpretations comes from the Midrash, which is an ancient Jewish commentary and it explains that this line of the poem actually refers to human sexuality — casting stones according to this reading means to make love. This reading fits with the second line which says a time to embrace. So what the poet is saying is that sexuality has a proper place, namely in the context of marriage. So how do we apply this to our lives in 2019?

So let 2019 be a year where you strive to be sexually pure. Some of you a struggling with pornography, others are wanting to make themselves sexual objects to gain attention from members of the opposite sex. Some of you are in relationships, or will be in relationships soon and you will have to be intentional about creating boundaries.

A time to keep and a time to throw away.

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 3

6 A time to search and a time to give up as lost;

A time to keep and a time to throw away.

7 A time to tear apart

English Standard Version Chapter 3

6 a time to seek, and a time to lose;

a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), .

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 3

6 A time to search and a time to give up as lost;

A time to keep and a time to throw away.

7 A time to tear apart

The Book of Ecclesiastes 1. The Burden of the “Proper Time” (3:1–15)

6 The fifth pair of contrasting opposites has to do with possession. On the one hand, there are occasions when we need to look for something or keep something, but on the other hand, there are occasions when we give up the search or throw something away.

This verse talks about possession but in two different senses. I n the first sense it speaks of the way we as humans desire things and want to attain a certain possition so we start hunting around ad shopping for that thing whether it be a new outfit, a job a relationship with a special person or a snowmachine. There are so many different types of things we seek arent there. Well here is the point — sometimes our pursuit of possisng these things can be all consuming and it can cloud our vision and not allow us to see clearly. What the poet is saying is that you should let the desire to posses things control your life —

In the second sense, the poet talks about the things that we already have but that we are so scared to lose. This too can be a relationship, I remember this friend of mine named Jefferson got married a few years ago and his wife had this fear — like a constent and steady fear that her husband was going to die. she lost sleep over it, she was anxious. What was happening is that she cared so much about her husband but she knew that she couldnt control all of the varuables requred to keep him safe so she couldnt live with that and it caused her a lot of pain. Well we can do that with all sorts of possesions — we can stop possessing them and instead they can start possessing us .

This year, lets be people who have possessions and not be a people who are controlled by them

English Standard Version Chapter 3

7 a time to tear, and a time to sew;

a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

The Book of Ecclesiastes 1. The Burden of the “Proper Time” (3:1–15)

It is true, after all, that tearing clothes was an important ancient biblical mourning ritual (Gen. 37:29; 2 Sam. 13:31) and that the clothes would be repaired at the close of the mourning period

in this stanza the poet is giving us a general piece of wisdom. Namely that there are times when appropriate response should be to tear apart because we know that we have done something wrong, there is a time to be silent before God and Repent for the things that we have done. In this season we have to learn to humble ourselves and listen to wisdom — dont try to talk and make excuses for your behavior but rather acknowledge our shortcommings and mourn them.

From these experiences where we humble ourselves, we can actually gain wisdom and when we see others struggling the way we once struggled then it is the time to speak up and offer advice. We become like the seamstress becomes to the ripped garmet.

So this year, lets not be people that can never be wrong. Lets not let our pride get in the way of learning . Lets be honest dealers and not try to puff oourselves up beyond where we really are.

English Standard Version Chapter 3

8 a time to love, and a time to hate;

a time for war, and a time for peace.

in the last verse we see two really odd pairs. There is a time to love paired with a time for war and a time for hat paired with a time for peace. How do we make sense of the poet here? Well the bible tells us that we are to love God and love our neighbour and it tells us that we are to hate evil (that is the parts of Gods creeation that satan has distorted and disordedred). So what does that tell me about this verse? Well I think the poet is saying that the reason one ought to go to war is only out of love. This kinda fits with Just war theory which extends back to the church Father Augustine Which states that going to war should not be about advancing your territory or about aquiring goods but rather it should be about brought about as a way to repress evil. If there is an injustice, take for instnce the Jews being killed in Nazi Germany, it would be out of love for the Jews that you would go to war. This can be true in our own lives as well. Sometimes, standing up for the right things or standing up for people who are not popular can get you put in relational war with our peers but we are called to put ourselves at danger for the sake of Love.

Also, we are called to hate evil. Now evil is a distortion of gods creation so when we love evil we wind up putting our lives out of order and we end up in dissoray. So when we hate evil we can expect peace to follow.