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January 1, 2017

The Lord Provides

Danny Wright   |   Read Ecclesiastes 3:1-13

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Lectionary Week
January 1, 2017
Scripture Overview

The scriptures that mark the new year offer a panorama of perspectives, from Ecclesiastes as a poetic musing on how life is measured out in seasons, to the vision in Revelation of what we commonly consider the end of time itself. Psalm 8 asks what the role is for humans in God’s magnificent creation, and Matthew 25 gives us a sobering criterion for how that role might be judged. At the core of all these scriptures is a strong sense of God’s presence, a loving steadfastness in which we can rest. [With only one day given, the writer has chosen to write on the Ecclesiastes passage; the other texts are listed in the readings at the back of the book.]

Questions and Suggestions for Reflection

• Read Ecclesiastes 3:1-13. How will you celebrate this new year? What practices will you consider taking up in order to participate fully in God’s future?

Respond by posting a prayer .

Ecclesiastes 3:1-13

1 There’s a season for everything and a time for every matter under the heavens: 2 a time for giving birth and a time for dying, a time for planting and a time for uprooting what was planted, 3 a time for killing and a time for healing, a time for tearing down and a time for building up, 4 a time for crying and a time for laughing, a time for mourning and a time for dancing, 5 a time for throwing stones and a time for gathering stones, a time for embracing and a time for avoiding embraces, 6 a time for searching and a time for losing, a time for keeping and a time for throwing away, 7 a time for tearing and a time for repairing, a time for keeping silent and a time for speaking, 8 a time for loving and a time for hating, a time for war and a time for peace. 9 What do workers gain from all their hard work? 10 I have observed the task that God has given human beings. 11 God has made everything fitting in its time, but has also placed eternity in their hearts, without enabling them to discover what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there’s nothing better for them but to enjoy themselves and do what’s good while they live. 13 Moreover, this is the gift of God: that all people should eat, drink, and enjoy the results of their hard work.

Unless otherwise indicated, scripture quotations are from the Common English Bible. Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible. Used by permission.

The time has come again, as old has gone and new has arrived.
Some of us pray that this year will not be like the last,
remembering only the pains, struggles, and losses of what often
seemed, at best, the meaningless march of one incessant second
after another. Some of...

May we rejoice, do good, and recognize the beauty regardless of our place on the continuum of existence.


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