A Time to Keep and a Time to Throw Away

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
    a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
    a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,
    a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
                   a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up,
                      a time to keep and a time to throw away,
     a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
     a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace."
                                                                                     Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

We recognize the seasons of life, as we have often read in this passage from Ecclesiastes. We see in this book of the Bible that life has no meaning without God. "Meaningless! Meaningless! says the Teacher. Utterly meaningless!...What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but earth remains forever."  Ecclesiastes 1:2-4

Then we see that a life lived for God is as it should be. "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men...there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live...and find satisfaction in all his toil- this is the gift of God...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."  Ecclesiastes 3:11-14

When we went through Mom's things in 1996 we learned the meaning of "a time to keep and a time to throw away." Mom grew up when you didn't throw anything away and she really took that to heart. We had a major job on our hands. I'm still finding her treasures amongst my belongings. Then a few years later we went through Paul's Dad's belongings. He had things more in order so it wasn't such a difficult task. Yet there were still precious belongings to go through.

We went through a time of searching and a time of giving up as we dealt with our parents' treasures. What to keep and what to give away was of importance. We realized that you can't take it with you when you go to meet your Maker. It felt like that is what Mom wanted to do.

I hope I follow the example of loved ones who set their eyes on God and lived for Him. I know that we have a beautiful heritage of Christians in our family that are not to be forgotten. We have grandparents and others who we will see in Glory. We may weep when they leave the confines of their earthly bodies, but they are in heaven singing and praising the Lord. "A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance." Let us all prepare for days of rejoicing with the saints in heaven.

Image credits: striatic; igorzoid