Day 223

Ecclesiastes 1:1-3:22, 1 Corinthians 7:1-16, Psalm 94:12-23

That was a bit of a surprise! We have just started 2 Chronicles and then we jump into Ecclesiastes, bit of a random sideways shift in the journey. There has been a bit of a chronological pattern in the reading so far and that is the main reason for the move. There appears to be some connection with Solomon in the identity of the author although this is soon dropped and a lot of scholars think it is actually someone else. Despite all of that, the style is closely linked with the wisdom of Solomon so it is highly likely to be in that era and that is probably why it appears now in our reading.

As to the content of the readings, it is both profound and mystical and seeks to answer a question that nearly every human as asked at some time - what is the point? “The teacher” puts himself out there as being wise, and having pondered many things, but still he feels it is all a waste of time, everything is meaningless. He then gets to chapter 3 which is one of my favourite passages in the Bible and even inspired a song made famous in the 60’s by the Byrds.

The teacher feels as though everything is worthless yet in this poem/song he admits that there is a time for everything. Despite deciding that toil is one of those meaningless things, there are times when we do have to work (plant, build etc), there is quite literally a time for everything. The key is that it is God’s time that we have to submit to, similar to what we have been saying about Paul over the past few days – discernment. The fact that the writer is talking about opposites means that there is also time for everything  in between, reflecting all manner of emotions.

Then we get back to Paul and his pet subject. At the moment he is encouraging people to be single although marriage is not completely ruled out, it depends whether you can manage self control! Why so much detail? Our relationships are imperative to how people see us, and how people see us is a key part of how they see Christ. Our relationships should be build on firm foundations so that in all our dealings, people see Christ at work.

There is a time for marriage and there is a time to be single. There is a time for everything! Through it all, and everything in between, we must honour Christ. That is the challenge we will always live with.