Turn, Turn,Turn! To Everything There is a Season.

Good morning,

We just got home from a splendid time in Italy. We were in the Tuscany region and it was not only gorgeous but so calming. It was a wonderful change to take time to just look out with your eyes and take in the view with no noise. In the morning I would sit outside and read the Bible. I read all of Ecclesiastes while on the trip. We were talking about the song “Turn, Turn, Turn!” by The Byrds. I thought it was the Beatles, but I knew it was from Ecclesiastes so I found it in the Bible and the lyrics are right out of the third chapter.

To Everything there is a season, and a time for every matter or purpose under heaven . A time to be born and time to die, a time to plant and a time to reap. A time to kill a time to heal. A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance…..

As I kept reading the author, King Solomon, is telling how he has tried everything under sun and it is meaningless without reverence to God and obeying what He says to do. I love this verse from Ecclesiastes 2:24: There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink and make himself enjoy good in his labor. Even this, I have seen, is from the hand of God. 

Solomon writes that all the striving in life after money or beauty or fame or whatever will be gone from you eventually. If we wait for the exact time that feels right, safe from fear, we will never do anything. If we never push anxiety away and enjoy life right now, what good is it?

With God, we can take a step forward even though we are afraid!

With God, we can enjoy today and tomorrow will take care of itself.

With God, we can love people, stop being offended, and give what we have been given; love, forgiveness, and hope.

To everything there is a season. God wants you to enjoy every season! The only way to do this is with absolute knowledge that God is for you and He made a gorgeous world for us to inhabit! Trouble will come but trouble is in everyone’s path. Help when you can, pray for people, and give freely, because you will leave this world how you came into it–with nothing but your empty hands and someone else will inherit everything you have attained.

So, this is how Solomon concludes Ecclesiastes: After a lifetime of trying everything the world had to offer, Solomon finally concluded that the only thing that made any sense at all was God. He realized that no one can find any lasting enjoyment apart from Him. Solomon said what he had learned from all his searching was that the best way to spend our lives is to fear God and obey Him. This is our highest purpose and our most noble duty, so I encourage you to make a priority of it in your life.

Love you, Teri