(“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.” Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Read the verses above and you will realize that times change. During our life we will fill many roles and do many things, but none of them are permanent. The good news is, bad times will pass and the bad news is well… good times will pass as well.
So, what is the message? The author of Ecclesiastes (thought perhaps to be Solomon) is rather fatalistic. Life will end in death; the good man and the evil man end up in the same condition. What is the point? He does say we should enjoy daily life — “eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart…. Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love …” (Ecclesiastes 9:7, 9). He also instructs us to “Remember your Creator”(Ecclesiastes 12:1). This is good advice, as far as it goes.
Luckily for us, it’s not the end of the story. Times are different now –not because of computers and cell phones, but because we have the gospel. We’ll still have happy times and miserable times; scary times and peaceful times; times of plenty and times of pain. We still need to enjoy what we have and trust in God; but now, thanks to Jesus, we know that death is not the end. God sent Him “at just the right time”(Romans 5:6) to be the world’s Savior.
Thank God that Jesus has risen! He has risen indeed! Times have changed!
Lutheran Ladies Connection 