Ecclesiastes 12:1-8 - Remembering God While We are Young

Ecclesiastes 12:1-8

1 Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; 2 before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, 3 in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those who look through the windows are dimmed, 4 and the doors on the street are shut—when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low— 5 they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets— 6 before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, 7 and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. 8 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity.

Message: Remembering God While We are Young

Time: The Book of Ecclesiastes does not directly identify its author. The conventional belief is that the author is Solomon. The book was likely written towards the end of Solomon's reign, approximately 935 B.C. It is a book of perspective whereby the speaker reveals the depression that inevitably results from seeking happiness in worldly things. Most every form of worldly pleasure is explored by the Preacher, and none of it gives him a sense of meaning. He accepts that life is brief and ultimately worthless without God and advises the reader to focus on an eternal God instead of temporary pleasure.

What the Lord is Saying: The outcry here is summed up nicely in verse 1. We are to remember our Creator in the days of our youth. It reminds me of Proverbs 5:18 which says, "Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you. Rejoice in the wife of your youth." It's as if Solomon is saying that as we get old, life gets harder in some ways, and we need to stay focused on the days of our youth and not lose that sweetness and adventure.

I saw this quote by Alexander MacLaren (1826-1910), born in Glasgow, died in Manchester spent 65 years as a minister. His quiet routine of ministry was 2 sermons on Sunday, a Monday prayer meeting and a Thursday service and lecture.  He was an expositor of scripture and said this:

The temptation of the young is to live in the present. Reflection belongs to older heads; spontaneous action is more characteristic of youth. Therefore, they specially need to make efforts to bring clearly to their thoughts both the unseen future and Him who is invisible. The advice is specially suitable for them; for what is begun early is likely to last and be strong.It is hard for older men, stiffened into habits, and with less power and love of taking to new courses, to turn to God, if they have forgotten Him in early days. Conversion is possible at any age, but it is less likely as life goes on. The most of men who are Christians have become so in the formative period between boyhood and thirty. After that age, the probabilities of radical change diminish rapidly. So, ‘Remember . . . in the days of thy youth,’ or the likelihood is that you will never remember.

The rest of these verses in this chapter seem to speak of the same sentiment of verse 1, the evil days come. The language is sort of peculiar and to me it is just Solomon's perspective of old age at that time. In verse 3 the keepers of the house tremble are our limbs and our body that begins to deteriorate; and the strong men are bent, even the powerful men become hunched over and their liveliness to rule is diminished; and the grinders cease because they are few speaks of our molars or our teeth and they are not as strong as they once were, and those who look through the windows are dimmed is our eye sight.

And verse 8 concludes with the same sentiment that was expressed in chapter 1, verse 2, vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity to express that by the end of the book the message has been clear. He asserted this message at the beginning and now he has proven. It is like an opening and closing statement in a court case.

Promise: Life is vanity. Make the most of each day. Be content with what you have done. But, have no regrets. In order to get the rewards you want in life, you will have to do what is difficult now. It may be against the grain, but for the youth, these are the formative years and if you form yourself for only having fun and having no responsibilities, adjustment later in life will be very difficult. 

Prayer: Lord, I pray for my children, that you would help them each day to make decisions that honor you. Lord, challenge them in their lives. We live in a world of entertainment, where it is seen as the highest good. Lord, challenge me, them, to think of tomorrow. Help them to honor you in all they do.