Ecclesiastes Week Six

Today, I am excited about the verse we are focusing on for this week. There are important messages and things to ponder in this verse:

I don't know about you, but when I see "gain and lose," I usually think of weight. I but the fact remains, sometimes gaining weight is actually good for you...like when you are pregnant! Expanding on that (Ouch! Sorry for the pun!), we gain friends, we gain confidence, we gain knowledge understanding. What things have you gained in the perfect timing of God?
If you read this group of verses, you will notice there are always opposites--good and bad, positive and negative, etc. Now, we move on to the opposite of gaining--losing. There is a time to lose friends, loved ones, sleep, and many, many more loses than I can name. Sometimes the Lord allows the loss to protect us or prevent further harm. Sometimes it is simply a season we are in such as when we wake in the wee hours with a baby who wants to nurse. And sometimes it is because we are focusing on that thing that keeps our eyes off of God and sets Him on the back burner. 
Moving through the verse, we meet with a time to keep and a time to throw away. If you have ever seen the show Hoarders, you know that keeping everything is not necessarily a good idea or even a healthy one. We keep things we want to pass on to our children and maybe grandchildren. We keep sentimental things. We keep things that we can recycle or reuse. We keep important papers. We keep books, trinkets, collections, children's schoolwork, art projects, supplies, clothes, sheets, towels and more! 
However, in excess, there is a time to toss out the clutter! Believe me, as a parent I wanted to keep all my children's wonderful little creations, samples of school work, and the cutie little notes they wrote to my husband and I. But we don't have to keep everything, especially if we have it stashed away in a trunk or chest where it is never seen. Save minimal amounts of your children's crafts and consider donating old books to a library or selling them to a used book store. Take photos of sentimental items before giving them to children and grandchildren. Think simple and minimal. What is the least amount of pens, papers, scissors, tape, labels and other office supplies that you can keep without causing clutter? Perhaps it is time to throw away old thoughts, feelings and habits in favor of those things the allow Jesus to shine through you.

What are your thoughts on this verse? 

Blessings!