A Time to Throw Away
Question: What time is it?
It’s Wednesday night in November—fall.
Babies are being born and people are dying, at this time and God is sovereign over every moment.
Ecclesiastes 3 begins with a sweeping thesis statement:
“There is a season for everything, and a time for every event under heaven.”
God gives us seasons—segments of time—in which we are called to do the right thing at the right time.
Farmers understand this instinctively: there is seed-time and there is harvest-time. One year ago I entered my retirement season. On the last Thursday of August, 2025, I got the news that I would be retiring in November. I texted the news to some of you, and Jerry said, “maybe God has some other plans for you”, and Sherilyn said, “praise God!”
And I recognized that it was God’s timing for me, and I became deeply thankful for it.
Throughout our lives we live in the tension of God’s sovereignty and our responsibility: He sets the times; while we are called to discern the time and act.
In Ecclesiastes 3 we find a poem of fourteen pairs of events, beginning with “a time to be born and a time to die.” Tonight, I want to focus on the tenth pair in verse 6, which says, “A time to keep, and a time to throw away.”
It’s Wednesday night in November—fall.
Babies are being born and people are dying, at this time and God is sovereign over every moment.
Ecclesiastes 3 begins with a sweeping thesis statement:
“There is a season for everything, and a time for every event under heaven.”
God gives us seasons—segments of time—in which we are called to do the right thing at the right time.
Farmers understand this instinctively: there is seed-time and there is harvest-time. One year ago I entered my retirement season. On the last Thursday of August, 2025, I got the news that I would be retiring in November. I texted the news to some of you, and Jerry said, “maybe God has some other plans for you”, and Sherilyn said, “praise God!”
And I recognized that it was God’s timing for me, and I became deeply thankful for it.
Throughout our lives we live in the tension of God’s sovereignty and our responsibility: He sets the times; while we are called to discern the time and act.
In Ecclesiastes 3 we find a poem of fourteen pairs of events, beginning with “a time to be born and a time to die.” Tonight, I want to focus on the tenth pair in verse 6, which says, “A time to keep, and a time to throw away.”
Over this past year I have been throwing a lot of stuff away. We call it decluttering— Decluttering means removing or letting go of things you don’t need to create a more peaceful and functional space.
All of my grandparents, my dad, my step-dad, and my mom never decluttered. As each of them passed on, they left behind mountains of stuff to be sorted through.
Solomon does not say everything should be thrown away. He simply observes that there is a time to keep and a time to throw away. The wisdom is knowing which time it is.
There are seasons to hold on to things and seasons to let them go. We need to release what is no longer useful or what stirs up distressing memories. We need to get practical and decide to throw things away.
This past spring I cleaned out the garage and sorted through old tools—some of which I gave away. Over the past year I have
given away 90% of my CD collection, and we continue to thin out the movies and books we keep. I went through years of journals and college notebooks and threw most of them away. I discarded worn-out clothes and gave away other items.
There are seasons when it is right to acquire, protect, and hold on to things.
There are also seasons when it is wise to release, discard, or let them go.
The broader context of Ecclesiastes reminds us that nothing in this life is permanent—“we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it” (5:15).
An eternal perspective helps us know when to hold tightly and when to let go.
Ecclesiastes 3:6 is not primarily a command to declutter. It is a broader wise observation that there really are appropriate times to preserve things and appropriate times to let them go.
We have a figure of speech for this—“It’s time.” It’s time that I do this or that, because, “to everything there is a season.”
“A time to throw away” is not optional; it is woven into God’s design. We can say with God, “Yes, it’s time. Yes, it is the time for me to throw away.”
If this is your time to be throwing things away, then, what are you waiting for?
You might say, “This is overwhelming. I don’t know where to begin.”
So how do we know it is time to discard something?
We can first ask three questions:
1. Does this item actively serve the calling God has given me as a New-Covenant believer?
2. Does it compete with my affection for Christ?
3. Does it violate my conscience informed by Scripture?
If something dishonors Christ do not pass it on; dispose of it.
Everything else can be given away, sold, or recycled.
Decluttering is stewardship; it is not being wasteful.
Final thoughts
We are called to show up for every season God gives us— walking through them with faith that He is in control of our times and our seasons. Walk with God through the seasons that come into your life and recognize them. And when it is time to throw things away—things that once had value but no longer serve the life Christ is forming in you— learn to throw them away.
Because, There is a time to keep, and a time to throw away.
All of my grandparents, my dad, my step-dad, and my mom never decluttered. As each of them passed on, they left behind mountains of stuff to be sorted through.
Solomon does not say everything should be thrown away. He simply observes that there is a time to keep and a time to throw away. The wisdom is knowing which time it is.
There are seasons to hold on to things and seasons to let them go. We need to release what is no longer useful or what stirs up distressing memories. We need to get practical and decide to throw things away.
This past spring I cleaned out the garage and sorted through old tools—some of which I gave away. Over the past year I have
given away 90% of my CD collection, and we continue to thin out the movies and books we keep. I went through years of journals and college notebooks and threw most of them away. I discarded worn-out clothes and gave away other items.
There are seasons when it is right to acquire, protect, and hold on to things.
There are also seasons when it is wise to release, discard, or let them go.
The broader context of Ecclesiastes reminds us that nothing in this life is permanent—“we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it” (5:15).
An eternal perspective helps us know when to hold tightly and when to let go.
Ecclesiastes 3:6 is not primarily a command to declutter. It is a broader wise observation that there really are appropriate times to preserve things and appropriate times to let them go.
We have a figure of speech for this—“It’s time.” It’s time that I do this or that, because, “to everything there is a season.”
“A time to throw away” is not optional; it is woven into God’s design. We can say with God, “Yes, it’s time. Yes, it is the time for me to throw away.”
If this is your time to be throwing things away, then, what are you waiting for?
You might say, “This is overwhelming. I don’t know where to begin.”
So how do we know it is time to discard something?
We can first ask three questions:
1. Does this item actively serve the calling God has given me as a New-Covenant believer?
2. Does it compete with my affection for Christ?
3. Does it violate my conscience informed by Scripture?
If something dishonors Christ do not pass it on; dispose of it.
Everything else can be given away, sold, or recycled.
Decluttering is stewardship; it is not being wasteful.
Final thoughts
We are called to show up for every season God gives us— walking through them with faith that He is in control of our times and our seasons. Walk with God through the seasons that come into your life and recognize them. And when it is time to throw things away—things that once had value but no longer serve the life Christ is forming in you— learn to throw them away.
Because, There is a time to keep, and a time to throw away.
Comments
Post a Comment