With a quiet heart remember your Creator
1 Don’t let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator. Honor him in your youth before you grow old and say, “Life is not pleasant anymore.” 2 Remember him before the light of the sun, moon, and stars is dim to your old eyes, and rain clouds continually darken your sky. (Ecclesiates 12: 1-7)
THE words “remember” (repeated at least 7x in this section of Ecclesiastes) and “don’t” give emphasis as a warning before something happens. Solomon specifically had the youth in mind...giving them wisdom and admonishing the young to start walking with God in the sunrise of their lives rather than at the sunset.
Walking with God is NEVER about being active in religion...it is basking in the unconditional love of God. Loved by God and loving God is what we mean by “the fear of the Lord.”
While targeting the young, Solomon talks to the old who, though in the twilight of their life, still have the chance to die saved and not sad. Solomon enumerated the calamities of old age, as Matthew Henry described it...
Reality for the old, warning for the young. Here we see a gracious God who daily gives chance to change, to let God embrace us. At the end of life, you can either face God as an avenging judge or a Loving Dad.
Our choice about spiritual issues really matter because it defines decisions and destiny!
It’s not about hating God, it’s about forgetting and neglecting God’s love and disregarding the grace of loving Him back. The deception lies, not in obvious evil but the evil which we perceive as good.
Many people respond to God through activities of religion minus the joy of being loved by God and loving Him. Activities of religion, if not traced back to the cross, are as wicked as the Devil himself. The average old folk who wasted his youth serving the world will now try to repay by being busy for God at old age
At the prime of youth we have the grace of health, sensitivity and strength to walk with and enjoy a love affair with Abba by faith in Christ and when the twilight comes, we can say with no regrets...I enjoyed God here on earth and with great anticipation will enjoy God on the other side of eternity.
The second reality is when we are old; the health which by now we no longer have, becomes the obstacle to enjoy God. Eyes grow dim, grinders are few, strong men stoop, desire is gone.
Matthew Henry calls this the calamities of being old. How we handled our opportunity to enjoy being loved by God in our youth will greatly define our level of regret and fulfillment in old age.
Dr. Bob Bowman, one of the pioneers of Christian radio broadcasts in the Philippines known as the Far East Broadcasting Company said during its 50th anniversary, “if life is a long journey like riding on a train, from where I am now, I can almost see the train station”. These are remarkable words from a man who enjoyed God.
We can only say...Lord, be gracious unto me...
Remember your creator while you are young is a timely invitation for the youth to enter into a love affair with Abba by faith in Christ and for the old folks, a warning to not waste one more day by being busy for God rather than savoring the final days enjoying God.
The Westminster Confession is timely wisdom and warning... it says “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”
Finally, “Wasted years” is not only the song of those who deny God but the song of those who spent their youth on religion without relating to God... rigidity of rules rather than blooming and waltzing in freedom and grace. Thanks for reading...