Ecclesiastes 3:1 “To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven”
Thanks to the wonders of scientific research in agriculture you can enjoy strawberries all year long. But have you noticed that sometimes they are not as sweet as you remember them?
I bought kiwis the other day and I was waiting for them to ripen. I waited and waited some more. Then one day, as patience ran out, I decided to open one so I could finally savour it. My disappointment came quickly as I discovered that the fruit in my hand was not ready for consumption. The kiwis I bought never became ripe. The chemicals that were applied made the kiwis look good, but they were not miraculous enough to allow natural maturation to occur. This all happened because these fruits had been planted or picked in the wrong season. In Ecclesiastes 3:2, we read that there is “a time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted.”
The wise writer of Ecclesiastes, looking at the course of the world, was able to discern this essential truth; there is a divinely appointed time for everything. “He has made everything beautiful in its time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Modern science has tried to give us strawberries and kiwis all year long. But deep-down, we have perceived and know that only what God does is everlasting. “I know that whatever God does, it shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, and nothing taken from it” (Ecclesiastes 3:14).
Remember, if it is not everlasting, leave it last!
My prayer today is that I may commit to leave superfluous things last of in my list of priorities. May I choose to spend more time with eternal matters and trust that God will make something beautiful with me in His time. At this moment, may God create something in me everlasting.
Pastor Lincoln Nogueira