Summer is the hot time of our life! (from about 20 years old until around 40 or so).
Summer is the period we normally peak physically and mentally. Many people in the
summer of their life feel like they will live forever! Many people in the summer of their
life feel like they do not even need God!
Fall is the time in our life when we realize we are not invincible! Our leaves begin to
change colors,. especially if you are a guy! …..Fall is often the time in our life when we
realize we just might need God, even more than we first thought.
Winter is the time of our life when our leaves are gone and our field is brown…….No
wonder senior citizens tend to get cold so easily!
Clearly the writer of Ecclesiastes had a sense for the rhythm of life. Life is neither all
peaks nor all valleys but a blend of the two.
When I agreed to preach about three months ago, I remember thinking that God will plant
an idea for what he wants me to preach about. God clearly sent an idea to me in 2001
when I preached on faith.
This time I had two thoughts that kept coming to me. One became crystal clear as this
Sunday neared.
I looked on the internet and read a number of sermons on this topic of Ecclesiastes 3.
Some were funny, some were thought provoking…and a few were quite frankly so
confusing I can’t even explain what they were about!
“To everything there is a season and a time to every matter under Heaven.” “A time to
be born and a time to die”…. What happens between birth and death is up to us.
Fortunately, God gives us a partial road map on how we should live our lives, particularly
in the many relevant stories and parables in the New Testament.
This morning we heard the Gospel lesson that teaches us about the “Great
Commandments”. Jesus’ teaching of the Great Commandments can be found in three of
the four Gospels. I particularly like the reading from Matthew that was read just minutes
ago.
Jesus’ teaches his disciples that you only need to follow two commandments to earn
eternal life……the first is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your
soul and all your mind”…….That means putting God above all else. That means making
God a major priority in your life. For me, that means a number of things, including
loving God even more than I love the Los Angeles Dodgers (smile)…….It means making
Sunday worship services a priority, whether I am here in New Jersey or traveling
elsewhere. It means making financial and time commitments to the Church. It means
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