Ecclesiastes 3
Cycles of Doing & Undoing
There’s an appropriate time for everything—everything under heaven has a proper time to do it:
A time to give birth and a time to kill
A time to plant and a time to uproot
A time to destroy and a time to heal
A time to knock down and a time to build up
A time to cry and a time to laugh
A time to mourn and a time to dance
A time to throw rocks and a time to gather rocks
A time to embrace and a time to abstain
A time to search and a time to declare as lost
A time to keep and a time to throw away
A time to rip apart and a time to sew together
A time to be quiet and a time to talk
A time to love and a time to hate
A time for war and a time for peace
What advantage is gained from all that toil? They look like chores that God gave Adam’s descendants to occupy themselves with. God made everything to be beautiful at its proper time. He put eternity in human hearts, yet we’ll never realize everything He does from beginning to end.
Just Enjoy God & Doing Good
I know there’s nothing better for human beings than to be glad and do good during their lifetimes. Everyone who eats and drinks experiences the benefits from all their work, and that’s a gift from God. Everything God does will last forever—nothing could ever be added or subtracted from His doings, and the way He works should fill human beings with awe and respect for Him. Everything that ever was or ever will be has already been, because God pursues things that have been pushed away.
We Can’t Even Distinguish Good from Bad
Also, there’s evil in places that are supposed to be filled with justice and goodness. I had to remind myself that God will be the one to distinguish the good from the bad, because there’s a proper time for everything.
Humans are the Same as Animals
I thought to myself,
“Surely God has tested mankind in order to show them that they’re animals.”
Because human beings and animals have the same fate—both end up dying. They both have the same breath, and humans don’t have any advantage over animals because everything is a vapor that ends up going to the same place. Everything came from dust and will eventually turn back into dust. Who knows whether or not human spirits ascend upward and an animal spirits descend downward into the earth?
Just Enjoy Your Work
So I’ve concluded that the best thing someone can do is to just enjoy his work, because that’s his share in life. Who could ever get someone to care about what will happen after they’re gone?
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