The Daily Lectionary for SATURDAY, January 12, 2019

Everything Has Its Time
Ecclesiastes 3:1-15

The Daily Lectionary

SATURDAY, January 12, 2019

(Revised Common Lectionary Year C)

Psalm 29

The Voice of God in a Great Storm
A Psalm of David.
1  Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,
     ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
2  Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name;
     worship the Lord in holy splendor.

3  The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
     the God of glory thunders,
     the Lord, over mighty waters.
4  The voice of the Lord is powerful;
     the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

5  The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
     the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
6  He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
     and Sirion like a young wild ox.

7  The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.
8  The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
     the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

9  The voice of the Lord causes the oaks to whirl,
     and strips the forest bare;
     and in his temple all say, “Glory!”

10 The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
     the Lord sits enthroned as king forever.
11 May the Lord give strength to his people!
     May the Lord bless his people with peace!

Ecclesiastes 3:1-15

Everything Has Its Time
3:1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

2  a time to be born, and a time to die;
   a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
3  a time to kill, and a time to heal;
   a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4  a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
   a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5  a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
   a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6  a time to seek, and a time to lose;
   a time to keep, and a time to throw away;
7  a time to tear, and a time to sew;
   a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8  a time to love, and a time to hate;
   a time for war, and a time for peace.

The God-Given Task
9 What gain have the workers from their toil? 10 I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with. 11 He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; 13 moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil. 14 I know that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God has done this, so that all should stand in awe before him. 15 That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already is; and God seeks out what has gone by.

1 Corinthians 2:11-16

2:11 For what human being knows what is truly human except the human spirit that is within? So also no one comprehends what is truly God’s except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. 13 And we speak of these things in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things to those who are spiritual.

14 Those who are unspiritual do not receive the gifts of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15 Those who are spiritual discern all things, and they are themselves subject to no one else’s scrutiny.

16 “For who has known the mind of the Lord
     so as to instruct him?”

But we have the mind of Christ.

Optional parts of the readings are set off in square brackets.

The Bible texts of the Old Testament, Epistle and Gospel lessons are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the USA, and used by permission.

The Daily Lectionary is a three year cyclical lectionary. We are currently in Year C. Beginning with the first Sunday of Advent in 2019, we will be in Year A. The year which ended at Advent 2018 was Year B. These readings complement the Sunday and festival readings: Thursday through Saturday readings help prepare the reader for the Sunday ahead; Monday through Wednesday readings help the reader reflect and digest on what they heard in worship. Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, copyright © 2005 Consultation on Common Texts. www.commontexts.org
Everything Has Its Time