Daily Devotion • December 31
Today's Scripture
Ecclesiastes 3:1–15
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 throw 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 throw 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.
What gain have the workers from their toil? I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with. He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil. I know that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God has done this, so that all should stand in awe before him. That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already is; and God seeks out what has gone by. (NRSV)
Reflection
I’m not a huge fan of New Year’s resolutions. Sure, I’ve made them. But I can’t think of a single memorable one that impacted my life in a positive way, probably because I rarely kept them past Valentine’s Day!
I do, however, think there is value in setting an intention. In yoga, we’re encouraged to set an “intention.” The hope is that the intention we bring to our practice will live with us beyond the workout. An intention such as “be gentle with myself when I try something new” or “be fully present for this hour” works beautifully in yoga, and even better on the job, with family members, or out in the world.
On the cusp of a new year, I wonder if the wisdom offered in today’s reading might help us to set our own intentions for 2025? The author of Ecclesiastes tells us there is a time for everything — time will pass and things will happen, because this is simply the way God has established the world.
What if our anxiety comes from trying to “manage” our time because we’re always “running out” of it? We could choose to be gentle with ourselves and to ride the waves of this uncertain world. We could breathe deeply, hold our bodies loosely, and leave some of our anxieties behind us, in 2024 where they belong.
Then the author reminds us that we toil — that, too, is part of being human. We can (and should) take pleasure in our work and the celebratory eating and drinking that follows. Yet it isn’t our hard work (or the subsequent play) that reveals the unfathomable fullness of God. The author writes “I know that whatever God does endures forever.”
So we look beyond our own work to see where God the Creator was and is — and to revel in what God is doing now. Perhaps the more we choose to “be fully present” the more we will see and experience God at work.
Prayer
Holy God, whatever season of life we are in right now, we ask you to be with us. Bless this time of transition and new beginnings. Help us to approach this new year with new intentions so that we might love deeply and live richly. Amen.
Written by Amy Pagliarella, Parish Associate for Caring Ministries
Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church
Devotion index by date | I’d like to receive daily devotions by email
YouTube
Podcasts
/fourthchurch
#fourthchurch
@fourthchicago