Daily Devotional For Saturday, June 6, 2026
Good morning and good day. Our devotional today is from Ecclesiastes 3:1-9:
“For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. (2) A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. (3) A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. (4) A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. (5) A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away. (6) A time to search and a time to quit searching. A time to keep and a time to throw away. (7) A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and a time to speak. (8) A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace” (NLT).
Historian and author Bruck Kuklick in his book illustrates this passage retelling the true story about Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia:
“It was the death of a grand old ballpark. For more than sixty years, the stadium at 21st and Lehigh had been home to the Athletics and later the Phillies. Shibe Park was a Philadelphia institution. Yet by the late 1960s the neighborhood was in decline, and the ballpark, which by then was known as Connie Mack Stadium, had become dilapidated. When the Phillies played their last game there in 1970, fans started tearing the place apart. Already in the first inning the sounds of hammering and sawing could be heard all over the ballpark as vandals tried to steal whatever souvenirs they could pry loose and carry away. “Instead of dying like the graceful, grand place it was,” the newspapers said the next day, “Connie Mack Stadium ended its life literally shrieking in pain from the torments of being torn apart.” What was left of the stadium was damaged by fire the following year, and by 1976 the field was overgrown with weeds. Finally Mayor Rizzo gave the order for its demolition. It was time to tear the old place down. Yet soon it was time to build again. In 1981 Deliverance Evangelistic Church bought the parcel of land with a vision to serve the city with a gospel-centered community. The church made space for ministry and Christian education, built homes for the elderly, and eventually constructed a huge sanctuary for the worship of God” (Source:Bruce Kuklick, To Everything There Is A Season: Shibe Park and Urban Philadelphia).
These events of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 are beautifully described by historian Bruce Kuklick in his book reflecting on the economy of God. There is a time and a season for everything, including both a time to tear down and a time to build up. While there is a season to play baseball, there is also a season for advancing the ministry of the church—everything in its God-given time. Some have read this passage thinking that if they did the first part, they would escape the second. That is not what these verses are implying. Their point is to stress everything, including that you and I have a limited time on this earth. Hebrew 9:27 states, “Every single person has an appointed time to die” (PAR).
As we read this passage we are impressed with Solomon’s poetic flow from one verse to the next. It may be that Solomon was frustrated with the limitations of time as we are at times. All of us have been confounded and frustrated by the limitations of time. If you have ever had someone in Hospice, you understand this fully. Yet, most of us live as if we will always have more time. Solomon’s response to that thought is, “Don’t count your chickens until they hatch.” Sometimes time is a friend and at other times time is a foe. American educator Horace Mann once said, “Lost, yesterday, somewhere between Sunrise and Sunset, two golden hours, each set with sixty diamond minutes. No reward is offered, for they are gone forever” (Horace Mann, quoted in Elizabeth M. Knowles, ed. The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, 5th edition, p. 493).
This poem and Scripture is even famous to non-believers and the lost. In the 1959, singer Pete Seeger of the Birds wrote a song, “Turn, Turn, Turn. To Everything There Is A Season.” Some as they read this passage see it dripping with pessimism and cynicism. They see it as Solomon being fatalistic about his own finiteness and mortality. To such skeptics, I would say they are ignoring the sovereignty of God. Instead of finding comfort in God’s control and governance of time, they look at this as doom, gloom and plume.
In verse 2, the Hebrew text literally says, “. . . a time to give birth” rather than “a time to be born.” Verse 5 gives scholars a challenge – “gathering and scattering stones.” To what purpose? Some see this as reference to gathering and casting stones to make an enemy's fields unplantable or to slow down an advancing army. . Some see it as referencing stones to keep track of the number of sheep, goats, or cows. Some see it as a reference to clearing a field in order to plant. You gather the stones and cast them somewhere else.
The Hebrew words themselves are confusing. “Cast or casting” is the Hebrew word [לְהַשְׁלִ֣יךְ, lehashlikh] and the “gathering or collecting” is the Hebrew word [אֲבָנִ֑ים, avanim]. There are times both of these words are used euphemistically to refer to sex or a sexual union. If this is the case, then this would agree with the last part of verse 5 – “time to embrace and a time not to embrace.” We really do not know what Solomon was referencing here. If this is a reference to sex, Solomon is bluntly saying that sex also is fleeting.
Verse 8, there is a time to hate? Really? Yes, Look at Proverbs 6:16-19, “There are seven things that the Lord hates and cannot tolerate: (17) A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that kill innocent people, (18) a mind that thinks up wicked plans, feet that hurry off to do evil, (19) a witness who tells one lie after another, and someone who stirs up trouble among friends” (GNT).
There are some things we are to hate such as evil, sin, injustice, abuse, rape, murder, theft, terrorist attacks, crooked courts and political systems. God is not either/or. He is both/and depending on what time it is. Many people think of God only as love while ignoring His wrath and vengeance. God is both love and vengeance. Old Testament scholar Ronald Murphy says this about verse 8: “Love” and “hate” represent personal feelings, while “war” and “peace” represent sociopolitical conditions” (Source: Ronald Murphy, Ecclesiastes, p. 34). So, there is a time to heal using medical technology and the Lord and a time to kill (ex. capital punishment, self-defense, war). There is a time for peace and there is time to do whatever is necessary politically to keep your nation safe and at peace.
Reflection Assignment: Are you maximizing every second of time the Lord gives you? If not, why? Time is fleeting and some often ignore it by saying, “Well, some day I will get around to it . . . .” and then some day becomes no day. Are you a procrastinator or a pre-crastinator (someone who rushes quickly to get things done)? The clock is ticking and you cannot roll it back, but you can rally yourself to do what God has called you to do. What has God called you to do and when are you going to get around to doing it?
Scripture To Meditate On: Ephesians 5:15-17, “Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, (16) making the most of your time, because the days are evil. (17) So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is” (NASB).
Prayer To Pray: “Lord, help me to become a “pre-crastinator” rather than a procrastinator. Help me to maximize my time because it is fleeing and me with it. Lord, this is my season to live for You and that is exactly what I am going to do. I love Your Lord and thank You for the time you have allotted me. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly