Telling Time
My five year old said on Christmas Eve, “I wish all of the seasons were the Christmas season!” We probably all remember feeling that way at some point. We recognized we were in a good season, and we didn’t want it to stop. Why wouldn’t a five year old want it to be Christmas all year long?
The Bible teaches two big ideas about seasons that we want to try to talk to our kids about this week. One is that our times are in God’s hands. He is the maker of time, and He controls what happens and when. It’s a hard lesson to learn that we live in His seasons; we can’t speed up the clock or slow it down or skip a season.
Second, seasons always change. Our talking point this week come from the famous poem in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 that asserts there is a time for everything. Biblical wisdom includes learning to recognize what time our families are in and to learn to live as best we can in that time—until a new time comes.
Yes, these are big ideas, but many kids find them fascinating to think and talk about. A few of the questions below might help. A good starting place for this New Year’s conversation would be to read Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 together.
Talking Points
- Ecclesiastes 3:1 says there is a time and season for every activity in life. How much control do you think we have over the seasons? [Parent: Reinforce the idea that the seasons come and go without our help on God’s timetable.]
- So if you’re tired of winter and you cannot make it be summer, what can you do about it? [Parent: Emphasize the idea that our options are limited. We can leave the area or stay inside, but we can’t make the season change.]
- In Psalm 31:15, David says that his times are in God’s hands. If that’s true (and it is), why do you think God doesn’t just make our times exactly the way we want them to be all of the time?
- Do you think God is trustworthy to bring us in and out of different seasons of life on His timetable? Why or why not?
- Does it make any sense to have a goal of trying to control everything in our lives to make it one season—the best we can imagine our lives being—all of the time? Why or why not?
- The poem in Ecclesiastes compares opposite kinds of “times.” It starts by saying there’s a time to be born and a time to die. Can anyone control when he or she is born? Should we control when our life ends?
- Which season do you think is better for farmers: planting or harvest? [Parent: Harvest is when they make all of their profit. It’s a great season for farmers if it’s been a good year.]
- Can you have a harvest season without a planting season and then a growing season? Why is each season so important?
- What are the consequences for farmers who don’t recognize when it is planting season? What if they decide to just skip that season since it is less satisfying than harvest season?
- Would you say that your life is in a planting, growing, or harvesting time right now? Why? How about the rest of our family?
- Verse 4 of the poem says there is a time to cry and a time to laugh, a time to mourn or grieve and a time to dance. Would you say that our family is in a crying and mourning season or a laughing and dancing season? Why?
- What happens when someone tries to force themselves to laugh and dance in the grieving season—or can’t enjoy life during a celebration season? How are both seasons valuable?
- Verse 5 says there’s a time to embrace and a time not to embrace. The writer was probably talking about sex. When would you say is the season to have sex and the season not to have sex? [Parent: Reinforce the idea that God’s Word teaches that sex is for the time of marriage and not any other season.]
- Do you think the idea that some activities are meant for specific seasons helps people to be more patient? What do you think are the consequences of trying to create a “false season” by participating in activities—like sex—out of their time?
- Verse 6 tells us there is a time to keep and a time to throw away. One way to think about that is with relationships. How do you know if the time is right to work hard to fix a broken relationship or to let it go? [Parent: Our kids really need to hear wisdom on this one.]
- One big idea from this poem is that seasons are always changing. We can’t make the ones we want come faster—and we can’t keep the one we’re in from changing. How do you feel about that idea?
- How can we get better at recognizing and making the most of the season that we’re in—instead of just feeling bad that we can’t control when those seasons come and go?
- How would you describe the times you are in or that we are in as a family or a church or a nation? How does understanding the times help us to live for God more effectively?
Back.
