The Daily Devotional
Friday, August 21, 2026
When One Season Gives Way to Another
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven.” — Ecclesiastes 3:1
Reflection
Some passages of Scripture become especially meaningful when life reaches a turning point. Ecclesiastes reminds us that our lives unfold in seasons. Some seasons call us to begin something new. Others ask us to persevere. Still others invite us to recognize that a particular work has served its purpose and that God may now be directing our attention somewhere else.
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven.”
Those words are not simply about the passing of time. They are about learning to recognize that faithful living sometimes requires change. We may become comfortable with a particular routine, ministry, responsibility, or pattern of service, but faithfulness does not always mean continuing indefinitely. Sometimes it means asking whether the time has come to invest our energy in another place.
We see this even in ordinary life outside the church.
A farmer may cultivate the same field year after year, but there eventually comes a time when the soil needs rest or when another crop should be planted. Continuing to scatter the same seed simply because it has always been planted there may not be wise stewardship. The farmer does not conclude that planting was a mistake. The harvests of earlier seasons still mattered. Instead, the farmer studies the field, considers the season, and decides where effort and resources can now be used most fruitfully.
Much of Christian life requires that same kind of discernment.
For some time, I have written daily devotionals and Verse of the Day teachings for St. Luke’s, hoping they would provide encouragement, biblical reflection, and spiritual nourishment for members of our congregation and others who encountered them. Writing them has also been meaningful to me because the discipline of opening Scripture each day, studying its context, and considering how it speaks to ordinary life continually deepens my own faith.
At the same time, the readership for these daily writings within St. Luke’s has remained quite small. That does not diminish the value of anyone who has read them, shared them, or found encouragement through them. If even one person has been drawn closer to Christ through something I have written, then the effort has been worthwhile.
But stewardship also means paying attention to where our time and energy may now be most effectively invested.
I am entering another season of theological study as I prepare to pursue a PhD in Biblical Studies. That work will require considerable time for reading, research, writing, language and biblical study, and sustained reflection on Scripture. After considering how best to balance those responsibilities, I have decided to discontinue writing the daily devotionals and Verse of the Day teachings for Ichthus Ministries and devote that time more intentionally to my academic studies.
I do not see this as stepping away from Scripture. In many ways, it is precisely the opposite.
The purpose of biblical study is not simply to accumulate information. Scripture is meant to shape our understanding of God, deepen our relationship with Christ, strengthen the Church, and help us speak faithfully about the hope we have received. Academic study becomes spiritually meaningful when learning leads to wisdom, worship, humility, and service.
There is also an important lesson here for all of us.
We sometimes measure faithfulness by how long we continue doing something. Yet Scripture repeatedly shows people being called from one place of service into another. Abraham left familiar ground. Moses moved from shepherding sheep to leading Israel. The disciples left their nets. Paul traveled from city to city as opportunities for ministry changed.
The question is not always, “How can I keep doing what I have been doing?”
Sometimes the better question is, “Where is God asking me to invest myself now?”
That is a question worth carrying into our own daily lives. Perhaps there is something you have been doing simply because you have always done it. Perhaps there is another opportunity to learn, serve, encourage someone, deepen a relationship, or grow spiritually that deserves more attention.
Not every change represents an ending. Sometimes it represents a redirection.
The daily devotionals may be concluding at Ichthus Ministries, but the study of Scripture continues. The desire to teach continues. The calling to encourage others in the Christian faith continues. What changes is simply where the time and effort will be concentrated during this next season.
Ecclesiastes teaches us that there is “a time for every purpose under heaven.” Wisdom lies partly in recognizing the purpose of the present season.
I am grateful for everyone who has taken the time to read these devotionals and Verse of the Day reflections, and especially for those who have offered encouragement along the way. My hope is that whatever has been helpful in them will continue to bear fruit.
And as one season gives way to another, perhaps the invitation for all of us is the same: to remain attentive to God, faithful in the work placed before us, and willing to follow wherever the next season may lead.
Prayer
Gracious God, you are present with us through every season of our lives. Give us wisdom to recognize when you are calling us to continue, when you are asking us to change direction, and when you are opening a new path before us. Help us to receive every opportunity to learn, serve, and grow as a gift from you. Bless the work that has been completed, guide the work that is beginning, and keep our hearts centered upon Christ so that whatever we do may deepen our faith and become a blessing to others. Lead each of us faithfully through the season before us, trusting that your purposes extend far beyond what we can presently see. Amen.
Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible Classic (WEB), a public-domain translation. Original devotional content © 2026 Kenny Sallee, ThM. All rights reserved.
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