Birth and Death

Ecclesiastes Chapter 3.  A Time for Everything.

There is nothing new under the sun.  To everything there is a season.  A time to weep.  A time to laugh.  Consider this: the author of Ecclesiastes offers us wisdom about life, about balance, about how to live life to the fullest and understand the meaning of life. ~ Solomon  This is the beginning of devotions based on Ecclesiastes Chapter 3.  Watch for parts of it in the coming weeks as well.

Everything Has Its Place

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:"

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven. How do you look at time? Do you live in the moment? Carpe Diem? Do you live in the past? Remembering better times? That special day when Dad bought you your first bicycle? Or tragedies? When Grandma was gone, and Christmas just wasn't the same anymore? Do you live in the future? A land of hopes and dreams? Looking forward to expectations? A new baby? A new car? Empty nesting? Retiring and taking that trip to Alaska? New Zealand? How you view time has a dramatic impact on how you view life. Time can be a collection of unrelated moments like a pocket of loose change, or a united stream of minutes like a fine pearl necklace. Is time a race for you? Through rush hour traffic? Getting the kids to school on time? Meeting yet another improbable, or impossible deadline?

"There is a time for everything." That sounds like a greater implication of balance. Those great questions of man, "Who am I?", "Why am I here?" "What's it all about?" Are they all influenced by time? Wise men and philosophers have spent their lives trying to understand good and evil. Ying and Yang. God and Satan. How about you? Have you figured it out? What is "a season for every activity under heaven?" Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter, the four seasons immediately come to mind. What about seasons of life: Birth, Childhood, Adolescence, Parenting, Late Middle Age, Death? Or seasons of carefree play, school, work and a career, then retirement? Have you ever considered a Season of Friendship? As a small child you may have spent a lot of time with your best friend. Then you moved. Or they moved. Or you spent more time with other kids, and the friendship changed. The season changed.

Solomon *** has been called the wisest man who ever lived. In fact, the wisest who would ever live. He saw the changing, and the recurring seasons of life. He studied them, and described his thoughts. In Ecclesiastes he talked about life, work, time, and God. If the wisest man in the world thought these questions were important ... well, maybe they are worth considering. Journey with Solomon on his adventure. Hear what he has to say about time, and balance, and  more, in the pages ahead.

Birth and Death - "a time to be born and a time to die"

Wow! What is more wonderful and exciting than the birth of a baby? New life enters a family, a time of joy and celebration. And what about death. Inevitable. Often a time of sorrow rather than joy. To everything there is a season, a time to be born and a time to die. Yet, this is widely, completely, and universally understood. Everyone, everywhere, regardless of nation, race, color, or sex begins life with their birth: their "time to be born". From a very early age, children learn that other children are born into the world.  Small children often love seeing, hearing, touching, and maybe even smelling, a newborn. Most children grow up celebrating their birthday, with joy and laughter. Year after year.

Birth is also sometimes used to describe new endeavors.  When Henry Ford began making horseless carriages, it was the birth of a company, and along with others, the birth of an industry. Most countries can quote the time they were born. The birth of the nation. 1776 for the United States of America.
Solomon observed the birth of each person.  We all come into the world the same way. While you, and me, and everyone who ever lived, or will ever live, is unique. We share the same birth process.

Solomon observed the inevitable death that follows every life too. Death takes many forms.  Accidents. Sickness. Battle or conflict. Innocent victim. Or quietly in sleep after a long, fruitful life. Like birth, death is universal. No one escapes death. Like birth, death can be used to describe circumstances, not just people.  The death of the factory. The death of a town. Is there a time to die for a civilization, or can a civilization live forever? Solomon is not just describing the joy of birth, nor the agony of death. He notes there is both a time to be born, and a time to die.

Balance. Is birth a doorway from eternity past? Is death a doorway to eternity future? How do they both fit into the ultimate truth of man? Understanding the origin of death comes from Genesis chapters 2, 3, and 5. And understanding God's love is described in Romans 6:23.

Prayer: Eternal God help us on our journey of time and events under heaven. This is something we all share. Help us to understand one another as we past through these times in life on the way to Your kingdom.  Amen