Devotion: Ecclesiastes 3:8 

Ecclesiastes 3:8  …a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. 

You are probably familiar with this verse, whether you have taken time to read the book of Ecclesiastes or not. It was made famous by a song. The poem from which our verse is taken describes 14 changing seasons of human life. Through all of them we see that our God is sovereign over all seasons of life, both the good and the bad. Today’s verse is the final line of the poem.

A few thoughts before we get into the actual words of this verse… The poem offsets human experiences such as birth and death, weeping and laughing, building and tearing down. It describes a fallen world and the life we live in it rather than providing us with moral instructions. It also reminds us that we, people, do not control these things. They are things that happen that are out of our control. It is how we respond to them that matters and where we place our hope and trust.

This final verse begins with contrasting love and hate. We can argue that love and hate, as well as any of the other seasons of life, all have an influence over the peace we feel in our lives. As believers we are called to love what is good and to turn away from that which destroys life or things that go against God’s will and purpose. Normally we would say that hate is contrary to God’s love and purpose, but in this case it points to the response we should have towards things like evil, injustice, sin, and falsehood. Those are things that are detestable to Him and we should hate them, instead embracing and promoting His goodness, grace, and love.

This leads us into the final comparison – war and peace. Peace is always the goal and the preferred human state, but we know that it is not always possible. We spoke of that just a few days back, how we should seek peace as far as we are able to. But we know that there is a time for war, too. In this case, as with hate, we do have times we are called to participate in war.

War represents the times when fighting is necessary. There are times in life when we will see that we need to take a stand for things, to stand up for those who are unable to stand up for themselves, to combat the evil that is taking place around us, time we are to defend the innocent or to protect life itself.

We are conditioned to believe that these things are negative and have no place in a Christian’s life. But there are seasons of life and there are circumstances that take place around us that require those things as the course of action for correction. So, do not shy away from hating that which is evil. Cling to what is good but be ready to hate what is contrary to God. Seek peace at all times but be prepared to take a stand when necessary.

And through all of these contrasting seasons of human life, put your trust in Him. Let Him be your guiding hand, let Him walk the path before you, and do your part to serve Him.

Prayer: Lord, Thank You for showing me that there are times in life for both the good and the bad. Help me to embrace every season of life and do my part to serve You through it all. Amen

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