A Time For Everything

by Pastor Mark
February 09, 2023

 

A sobering start to 2023

It has been a sobering start to the year for us as a church. As we enter the second month of 2023, Bethany has already conducted four funerals, the latest being the passing away of Jerry Ang. Many would consider his passing challenging to comprehend and accept. But during his memorial service, Pastor gave a word from Ecclesiastes to help us develop a far more Biblical and correct perspective about life and death.

1. Time

“A time to be born, and a time to die;” (Ecclesiastes 3:2)

  1. It is vital that we rethink how we see time.
  2. The word “time” is used 30 times in the first 11 verses of Ecclesiastes 3.
  3. The focus in this section is simply on time.
  4. There is a time to be born, but it does not tell us when it is time to die.
  5. It does not say that it is time for us to die when we are old.
  6. The young do die, which is difficult for us to comprehend and accept.
  7. We also should not wish for an elderly loved one to have more time on this earth only to suffer more.
  8. Nevertheless, God gives us time to consider death and be prepared for it.
  9. God determines when our time on earth will be done.
  10. Our challenge is to be able to appreciate what time is.

2. Task

“I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied.” (Ecclesiastes 3:10)

  1. The Lord has given each of us a task.
  2. It is a task that we need to occupy ourselves with.
  3. When we undertake this task diligently, we understand life and time better.
  4. It takes hard work to fulfil life’s task.
  5. Time and life are given to us to fulfil our tasks.
  6. If we do not fulfil our God-given task at the end of our life, then we really have not achieved much.
  7. As we consider death all over again, let us discover our God-given task and use our remaining time on this earth to fulfil it.

3. Trust

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

  1. There are things that God does that we are not able to comprehend fully.
  2. Even so, we ought to place our trust in God.
  3. We trust that God will make everything beautiful in its time even though we may not see its beauty at this time.
  4. What God does in His work is for eternity.
  5. We may not fully understand what that means, but we are privileged that we can have a small, tiny part in fulfilling our task in God’s plans.
  6. We want to trust in God’s purpose for us in everything that we experience.
  7. Let us stand in awe of the profundity of God’s work from beginning to end.

Let us be challenged to use our time well to fulfil our God-given task in life as we learn to place our trust in Him and His work in all things.

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