Eccl 3:1-11 / Lk 9:18-22
Today’s Old Testament reading tells us at great length that there’s a time for everything under the sun. But what it doesn’t say is that there’s barely enough time for anything as the tasks come cascading upon us faster than we’d like. And before we know it, we’re 40 or 50 or retiring! No matter what our age, a constant refrain for us all is: Where did the time go?
And hidden under that question is another, more serious one: Did it go anywhere useful? Was it all for naught? That question doesn’t come from nowhere. As today’s reading tells us, it comes from God who has put the timeless into our hearts. That should be of some considerable comfort to us, for it is more than a simple in-built reminder about what counts. It’s a statement of our destiny: We are destined for more than an endless cycle of tasks followed by death.
All the tasks can wear us down and can scare us into thinking that’s all there is. So take some time out every day for remembering with the Lord where all of this is really going. Thank him for your destiny and make sure that what you’re struggling with today is leading you home to him. And don’t be afraid to throw dead weight overboard! There’s too much of it in every life.
