Theological Commentary: Click Here
Discipleship Focus: Rhythm
- Rhythm: We are designed to work from rest, not rest from work. God has created us to be a people of rhythm in which we rest (abide), grow, work (bear fruit), and prune. The better we understand this natural rhythm in life, the more satisfied we will feel in life and the more we will be able to be in tune with succeeding in what God desires our life to be about.
Ecclesiastes
3 is a section that is largely about understanding that the world is not as
black and white as many of us would like it to be. We want this to be right, that to wrong, this
to be desirable, that to be avoidable.
But unfortunately that is seldom the case.
For
example, is it always right to laugh? Of
course not, just like it is not always wrong to cry. Is it always right to try and prove yourself
to be the smartest or fastest or prettiest?
Of course not. But is it always
wrong? No! Is it wrong to tease someone? No.
But neither is it always appropriate.
The point
of Ecclesiastes 3 is that there are very few black and white circumstances in
the world. Actually, most things have a
time in which they can be very much appropriate as well as times where they are
very much inappropriate. We shouldn’t be
a people who are setting up rigid walls around our life. We should be a people who are willing to
examine each situation and carefully assess what a proper response to the
environment around us might be.
That’s
where rhythm comes into play. There is a
times for stopping and resting and listening and talking and sharing. There is a time for growing and learning and
asking questions and doubting and changing.
There is a time for bearing fruit and seeing the results of our effort
and pride in our work. There is a time
for examining ourselves, taking the good away from the bad, and repenting in
those places that need it. But we need a
rhythm of all of those things. If we
spend too much time in any one category then we will find ourselves out of
balance.
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