To Everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)
There is a season (Turn, Turn, Turn)
And a time to every purpose, under Heaven
There is a season (Turn, Turn, Turn)
And a time to every purpose, under Heaven
Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes vs. 1, “There's an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth…” Think about it, God has orchestrated time and has designed it with purpose and forethought. We have the ability to experience time and have it inform the way in which we live out our lives. Sadly, all too many miss the preciousness of this gift and rather than using it soberly, waste it on vain pursuits or selfish ambitions.
The ancients of the faith had a fantastic understanding of God’s gift of life! It was because they chose to maximize the inherent potential found in time by practicing disciplines that would govern the observance of time. I would submit that there were at least seven of them:
1. Meal with God, Reflects our Communion with God
2. Offering to God, Reflects our Union to God
3. Fasting from the natural, Reflects our Dependence on God
4. The Day is governed by fixed hour prayer, Reflecting our Reliance on God
5. The Week is governed by The Sabbath, Reflecting our Trust in God
6. The Seasons are governed by The Feasts, Reflecting our Belief in God
7. Our Life is governed by a great Pilgrimage, Reflecting our Commitment to God
How different would the life we lead be if the above governed our every moment? The first two deals with our relationship with God, the third deals with personal space and reflection, numbers 4-6 deal with our personal use of time and the seventh is the ultimate litmus test of our life. The use of the above seven practices have the intended outcome of creating a life dependent, not on the lack of time but the need to worship throughout time. There are many inequities in this world, but one thing we all have in common is the amount of time each day presents.
God desires us to know that there is:
A right time for birth and another for death,
A right time to plant and another to reap,
A right time to kill and another to heal,
A right time to destroy and another to construct,
A right time to cry and another to laugh,
A right time to lament and another to cheer,
A right time to make love and another to abstain,
A right time to embrace and another to part,
A right time to search and another to count your losses,
A right time to hold on and another to let go,
A right time to rip out and another to mend,
A right time to shut up and another to speak up,
A right time to love and another to hate,
A right time to wage war and another to make peace.
A right time to plant and another to reap,
A right time to kill and another to heal,
A right time to destroy and another to construct,
A right time to cry and another to laugh,
A right time to lament and another to cheer,
A right time to make love and another to abstain,
A right time to embrace and another to part,
A right time to search and another to count your losses,
A right time to hold on and another to let go,
A right time to rip out and another to mend,
A right time to shut up and another to speak up,
A right time to love and another to hate,
A right time to wage war and another to make peace.
I think it is so interesting that twice a day time actually resets itself, making way for things to be forgotten and new decisions to be made. 2 Corinthians 5:17 would encourage us to forget the ills of the past for the promise of a present with Christ; “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”
Yet the remembrance of significance throughout the bible is actually encouraged, men and women moved to mark moments. In some instances God commanded and in others, the offering of a joy filled heart. I believe we are called to be stewards of all that god has entrusted us with, this then must also include Time! I love the exhortation of Galatians 6:9, “So we must not grow weary in doing good, for in due time we will reap, if we do not give up.” I pray that your due time be as near as the new day.