Your Time and Eternity Phase?

How we use our time matters. We all go through various phases as we mature (or at least we should.) King Solomon wrote some memorable words in Ecclesiastes chapter three that were set to music by Pete Seeger. One phrase stands out in the lyrics: “And a time to every purpose under Heaven.”

Here is the song as I remember it: The Byrds “Turn! Turn! Turn!” on The Ed Sullivan Show

The ESV version of the Bible says it this way: “and a time for every matter under heaven.” The question we need to ask is “what are the matters that matter?” This question should be asked about investing, working, our living quarters, family, church, priorities and our ultimate purpose for existing.

During my working life there were many phases. They included the following: a Milwaukee Sentinel newspaper route; a mail delivery and data processing job at Nordberg Manufacturing; delivering fuel to fighter and patrol aircraft and then serving on a destroyer escort in the US Navy; painting houses during college; many years in different roles at Universal Foods, joining Conney Safety Products to serve as the VP of Information Technology, IT consulting for Prince Corporation, joining Parts Now to lead the IT team, and then some shorter parttime gigs at the Home Depot and Target. These were phases of my working life. I could do the same timeline with my investing journey, family, priorities and purposes.

The Most Important Question

During each phase of each part of my life, the real question must be “to what purpose?” The answer comes from Ecclesiastes chapter three. This was not in the song. You are left hanging about “to every purpose under heaven.”

Here is what is missing: ETERNITY. “What gain has the worker from his toil?I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”

Is Eternity in Your Heart?

I submit (for your consideration and reflection) that to ignore the “eternity” element of the phases of your life and the puzzle pieces of your life is a tragedy. Let me encourage you to read John’s gospel. He clearly states why he wrote his gospel in John 20:30-31 “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

Do you have “life” or are you just living the different phases and seasons?

Ecclesiastes 3:1-11 A Time for Everything

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.

The God-Given Task

What gain has the worker from his toil?I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”

Pete Seeger’s Song

“Turn! Turn! Turn!”, also known as or subtitled “To Everything There Is a Season”, is a song written by Pete Seeger in 1959. The lyrics – except for the title, which is repeated throughout the song, and the final two lines – consist of the first eight verses of the third chapter of the biblical Book of Ecclesiastes. The song was originally released in 1962 as “To Everything There Is a Season” on the folk group the Limeliters’ album Folk Matinee, and then some months later on Seeger’s own The Bitter and the Sweet.” – Wikipedia

“The song became an international hit in late 1965 when it was adapted by the American folk rock group the Byrds. The single entered the U.S. chart at number 80 on October 23, 1965, before reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on December 4, 1965. In Canada, it reached number 3 on November 29, 1965, and also peaked at number 26 on the UK Singles Chart.” – Wikipedia

The Limelighters

This was a group that also sang Seeger’s song. “They went to Aspen, Colorado, to work at a club called “The Limelite”, which Yarbrough and Hassilev had purchased after singing there during the previous ski season.” – Wikipedia

Five Minute Friday

This post is part of the weekly Five-Minute Friday link-up.

All scripture passages are from the English Standard Version except as otherwise noted.