Confession: I may have been a district-level spelling bee champ (fact check: sixth grade winner representing private schools in Washington state), but Ecclesiastes is still a little hard for me. But in the spirit of the book, it doesn't matter anyway, right? :)
I'm joking a little, but the book of Ecclesiastes may seem depressing at moments. It's not exactly sugar-coated comfort to think of your life as not much more than a whiff of smoke, a vapor. But even smoke can smell like a wonderful candle--or burnt hair. A vapor can give you a whiff of perfume, chocolate chip cookies...or a garbage dump.
I do think that the book of Ecclesiastes is great at providing perspective. That annoying job you have at the moment? It probably won't matter in the next 20 years...and it definitely won't matter in the next 100 years. That MAJOR FIGHT you had with your boyfriend/girlfriend? You won't even remember it when you're on your deathbed. The fact that you're rich, poor, single, married, a parent, childless, fat or thin? Doesn't really matter at all in the span of eternity.
Speaking of perspective...this section in particular is great at illustrating the importance of timing (it may look like a Beatles song, but I assure you--they got it from here!):
There's an opportune time to do things,
a right time for everything on the earth:
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.
This passage is different from others in illustrating not just what is right, but the importance of when. In other words, it's entirely possible to do the right thing at the wrong time--we should all seek to do the right thing at the right time.
I bet you're thinking "Wow, that sounds nice and all...but how do I know when the right time is happening?" It's not always easy. I think often, we have to pray for God's guidance. We need His wisdom to discern what to do and when to do it. And even when we don't know exactly, we have to walk by faith and ask Him to direct our steps. It's like the phrase, "When God closes a door, He opens a window." I believe that's true...but you and I sometimes have to walk over to the doors and windows and give them a tug.
Tomorrow: Ecclesiastes 5-8
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