Happy New Year Time

Happy New Year

Time

There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under heaven:

“I know that there is nothing better for men

 than to be happy and do good while they live.” 

“That everyone may eat and drink,

and find satisfaction in all his toil — this is the gift of God.”

“I know that everything God does will endure forever;

nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it.

God does it so that men will revere him.”

Many are the plans in a man's heart,

but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.

Around the world on New Year’s Eve there will be a count down.

Since 1917, New York’s Times Square has dropped a lighted ball.

Since 1996, Port Clinton, Ohio, has dropped a huge walleye.

There is also a Giant Hershey’s kiss, 200 lb. Bologna,

Chunk of cheese, an onion, live possum,

a pickle, a hog, a to-go-cup and many more strange things.

Yes, we have interesting ways of counting down the New Year.

 For most of us New Year’s Eve is a time to be happy.

A time to view the future with hope.

Solomon said there is a time for everything.

There is a season for every activity.

As you read through his list of “Times”

you see each time has a contrast.

Life is full of happy and unhappy times.

So what can we get from this list of “Times”?

One of the things we see is change;

 unhappy times won’t last forever.

We always have happy times to look forward to.

The happiest time is the hope

of eternity God sets in our hearts.

The hope of eternity for the believer will

never allow unhappiness to totally fill the heart.

Solomon also looks at the day in and day out living of time.

“I know that there is nothing better for men than

to be happy and do good while they live.” 

Solomon says there is a daily gift God has for us.

“That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction

in all his toil — this is the gift of God.”

Satisfaction, yes, satisfaction makes us happy.

Each day of our lives is a part of God’s eternal plan.

We sometimes don’t realize it, but going to work on

Monday supplies the needs for many others and on Friday

brings a paycheck for the provisions your family needs.

The people and things you touch are an

opportunity for you to reveal the love of Christ.

Endurance is a key component to happiness.

Not only will endurance bring you rewards but

it teaches our young people the way to happiness.

“I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added

to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.”

So your unhappy times in the year to come

are a season that will lead to a happy season.

Your unhappy times are a time to reveal God’s gifts to you.

Your unhappy times will never be

greater than the happiness of eternal life.

To have a happy New Year you will

have to keep your seasons in perspective…

“know that everything God does will endure forever;

nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it.

God does it so that men will revere him.”

Scripture Reading

Ecclesiastes 3:1-15 NIV

3 There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under heaven:

2 a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3 a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

6 a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7 a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

8 a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace.

9 What does the worker gain from his toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on men. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

12 I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. 13 That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil — this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.

15 Whatever is has already been,

and what will be has been before;

and God will call the past to account.

Proverbs 19:21 NIV

21 Many are the plans in a man's heart,

but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.