Special Note: As with last week’s emphasis on Ephesians, this week (and maybe some of next) will focus on Ecclesiastes, my favorite book of the Bible. In particular, I’ll focus on the purpose and meaning of life as discussed by this book. For an overview, see my sermon, Live Life in Light of Death. I encourage you to read one chapter of the book daily to go along with these devotions.

Today’s Reading: Ecclesiastes 3

 14 I know that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it nor anything taken from it; God has done this so that all should stand in awe before him.
Ecclesiastes 3:14

“To everything, turn, turn, turn/there is a season, turn, turn, turn.”

I’m sure you, like me, can hear The Byrds singing as you read the first eight verses of Ecclesiastes chapter three. They made these verses very famous indeed. But let us consider those verses in the larger context. 

So far, The Teacher has taught us that life is havel, here for a moment and gone, and what we know of life in that infinitesimal lifespan is toil and trouble. Then, The Teacher says there are seasons, appointed by God. As the chapter continues, The Teacher notes that only God is eternal, and everything we know is momentary and finite. 

If this sounds complex, and before we get metaphysical, consider Christmas. It only comes around once a year. What makes Christmas special is that it happens seasonally. If the Christmas season was all the time, it would cease to be special. 

So it is with life. In an ironic and perhaps paradoxical way, death is what makes life special. We know that we have a finite amount of time on this earth. And if life is havel, as The Teacher says, that lifespan is shorter than we like to think. As I age, life seems to go by more quickly. College doesn’t feel like twenty years ago, but it was. Jackson has started high school and I wonder sometimes where the last fourteen years went. 

The seasonal, short, nature of life asks us to make sure that we focus on what’s important with the time we have. To help me focus on that, I often ask myself if the thing I’m stressed about, the decision point in front of me, the obsession or focus of my thoughts, will be remembered at my funeral. If what I’m concerned about will not be remembered at my funeral, if no one will speak of it when I am eulogized or discussed at the viewing, then it’s havel. Let it go. Don’t put too much importance on it. 

That’s The Teacher’s lesson for us today: focus your energies and time on the things that will be remembered at your funeral; the things that truly matter in this life. For life, in its short and seasonal nature, is special.

Think
What do you hope is remembered about you at your funeral? Do your current actions and attitudes align with that hope?

Pray
Ask God for a wise heart.

Do
Where there’s misalignment from your answer to today’s Think prompt, make a list of how you’ll adjust so that there’s greater alignment. 

Think, Pray, Do. As we respond in faith to scripture, God moves in power through our minds, hearts, and bodies. We are the people of God. Thanks for reading today. Go in peace. Amen.

Think, Pray, Do devotionals by Ted Goshorn follow the suggested bible reading plan from his website and book, Prayer Changes Us. Find this Bible reading plan at tedgoshorn.org/biblereading. If you have found today’s devotion helpful, don’t forget to subscribe for daily emails at tedgoshorn.org and share with others that we may think, pray, and do faithfully.