A time to gain and a time to lose
A time to cast away stones,
And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace,
And a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to gain,
And a time to lose;
A time to keep,
And a time to throw away (Ecclesiastes 3:5-6).
Stones are often referred to in the Bible. There were the great stones used to build the Temple. And Peter uses the illustration “living stones” to describe the members of Christ’s church. But in our verse, stones are looked at as pictures of what can be a hindrance to us, or a help. We can accumulate habits and occupations which clutter our lives and make our spiritual journey more difficult. The Lord tells us about stony ground (Matthew 13:5), where there is not enough depth of soil for the seed to grow. And it has an application in our lives as Christians. It is not that what we occupy ourselves with is bad; the question is whether it has value. Does it help or does it hinder our spiritual progress and witness for the Lord Jesus? To do this we need to build into our lives “precious stones” (1 Corinthians 3:12) – communion with Christ, prayer, obedience to the word of God, fellowship with God’s people and simply doing good.
Equally, there are times when it is legitimate to enjoy intimacy, “a time to embrace”. And on the other hand, there are times when we need to be free to get on and do things. The Lord gives us an example of this with Mary in John 20. She was overjoyed to see the Lord in resurrection and held on to Him. But the Lord said, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God'” (John 20:17). It was not that He did not value her affection, but there were things to do.
This theme is continued in verse 6: “A time to gain, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away”. In the Gospels the Lord Jesus constantly reminds us of the importance of this process. In regard to salvation He says, “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26). In the previous verse, the Lord Jesus says, “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 16:25). He uses a similar expression in all the Gospels (see Mark 8:35, Luke 9:24 and John 12:25), emphasising how important this concept is to salvation and discipleship. The Christian pathway on the one hand involves sacrifice, but on the other enjoys the gain of spiritual blessing.
Paul describes his own discipleship in terms of losing and gaining. “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ” (Philippians 3:7). He also describes in terms of “great gain” the peace of walking with God and the experience of contentment: “Now godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Timothy 6:6). This pattern of losing and gaining is further emphasised in Philippians 4:11-12: “Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content.” People seek gain, and fear being identified as a “loser”. In Christ we learn the blessing of gaining and the blessing of losing.
