– By Kathy Beardsley

Ecclesiastes 3:
1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7 A time to rend [tear], and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. 

I wonder how many things have we done or experienced on a regular basis, and most likely all without giving it a second thought? But what do we do with the time we have when we are not doing those things? Are we spending our time wisely? Do we prioritize our time according to the importance of the task, or according to what will bring us the most pleasure and cause the least amount of inconvenience? 

As a child, I saw my parents and other grown-ups reading their Bibles quite often and even spending a good amount of time actually studying them. I thought to myself, “How boring, when I’m an adult I’m going to have the freedom to do what I want. Why would waste all that time doing something so boring.” Now that I am an adult, maturity has caught up with me and I have changed my attitude. At the risk of sounding as if I’m boasting (which I am not), I can spend hours a day reading, studying, and tracking cross-references, and before I know it my husband is getting home from work. 

The point I want to stress is that I find the more I study, the more I want to study, and have grown to love it. I want to get to the bottom of unanswered questions as much as possible and I believe the Holy Spirit has supplied many of them. Of course, I realize there will be questions I may never find answers to until I am with the Lord, and that is only if He deems it necessary for me to know, but by that time I probably won’t care anymore because I WILL BE WITH MY LORD! How exciting it is just to say that!! I understand most of you have jobs, kids, and responsibilities that require much of your time but keep in mind that even the time spent on those things can be frittered away when valuable lessons can be learned for yourself or taught to others while in the midst of doing them. 

 James 4:14
Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.