Before Your Life Slips into Eternity Remember Your Creator
Photo by Mihály Köles on Unsplash
Remember your Creator when you are young, before the days of trouble come and the years catch up with you.
They will make you say, “I have found no pleasure in them.” (Eccl 12:1 GW) [context– Eccl 12:1-5]
The Passing of Time
Time seems to pass at different speeds in different phases of life.
From birth to preschool age (4-5 years), the continuing changes of a child’s development are remarkable. Newborns are very dependent on their parents, especially their mothers.
A newborn spends most of their time all bundled up asleep but in weeks are balancing on their tummies and taking everything in. It doesn’t seem to take long for them to begin crawling, then walking. As they develop, children strive for independence—from learning the word no to wanting to do everything themselves.
Those young years seem to fly by until school starts. Then time seems to slow down or go too slow from the perspective of the child.
They can’t wait to turn six and begin to anticipate the next birthday and the next one as each year passes. Each milestone birthday brings greater status and more freedoms or privileges.
Along the way, parents may realize how quickly their children are growing up. Some may regret not spending more time with them when they were younger.
And too soon it may seem, children move forward with more independence from mom and dad into adulthood, college, and careers
For parents, time may seem to slow a bit to a more measured pace during the school years. But once our children are grown up and pursue their own lives and raise their own families, the years seem to pass much faster.
Time is constant.
There are 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in a day, and so on with weeks and months and years, as the earth makes its journey around the sun marked by the changing seasons.
But time can also be arbitrary and relative.
Unexpected things can happen at unexpected times and in unexpected ways. As a pastor, I presided over too many funerals that seemed premature and far too early.
Toddlers and preschoolers don’t relate to time as adults do. I often think these young children have a much better sense of eternity than adults because everything is now for them.
I’m also beginning to think time becomes much more relative for the elderly, especially in times preceding their death.
Insights
The poetic exhortation, “Remember your Creator when you are young,” is linked to Chapter 11. The first seven verses of Chapter 12 are an extension of the thoughts expressed in the last two verses of Chapter 11.
I’ve chosen to focus on the first five verses of Chapter 12 here to show how the opening thoughts of Ecclesiastes begin to come full circle. Solomon begins with his cynical view of life under the sun and some existential questions and thoughts echoed by many before and after Solomon’s time.
It’s significant that Solomon uses the phrase—Remember your Creator.
By describing God as the Creator, Solomon acknowledges that life under the sun has a purpose and God is personal. This seems contradictory to his previous thoughts about life as pointless.
The opening phrase—Remember your Creator—is only found in verse one in the original text but is implied for each stanza of the poetic expressions in the first six verses. This is how and why God’s Word Translation (GW) is expressed this way.
Each verse is a poetic stanza with extended thoughts describing the latter days of life under the sun. These first six verses are a direct contrast to the encouragement and warning given to young people in Chapter 11:9.
The exhortation of the first five verses is to encourage young people to keep in mind that God is their Creator and there will come a time when their strength will fade and life under the sun will end. Then they will face their Creator and give an accounting of their lives.
Consider these descriptive thoughts contrasted to the freedom and sense of invincibility of youth.
“Remember your Creator when you are young, before…”
“the days of trouble come… years catch up… no pleasure in them.
the sun, light, moon, stars turn dark… clouds…with rain.
those who guard…tremble… strong men…stooped… women…stop grinding… see a dim light.
afraid of heights… dangers… almond tree blossoms… grasshopper drags… caper bush…no fruit.”
Each verse describes the progression and characteristics of old age. Desire and pleasure don’t have the same pull as before. People you’ve grown up with are also aging and dying. Physical capacities—including hearing, sight, and strength—weaken and wane.
Fears are magnified and the mind drifts from reality as the end of life draws near. A grasshopper’s life cycle is about one year and the almond tree blossoms in early February—wintertime.
In the end—each life fades into eternity while others mourn.
Existential Reflections
My wife and I have witnessed this end-of-life stage while caring for our parents. It’s hard to watch and difficult to navigate at times. It also makes us mindful of our own aging.
When talking with my aunt who turns 100 this coming June, she tells us how lonely she is since the death of her friends and family members she’s survived. She especially misses her sister (my mom) who passed away just before Covid-19 hit. The isolation of lockdowns magnified her sense of loneliness.
Why did Solomon exhort young people to remember their Creator while they’re young?
Studies show young people who come to faith at an early age are more likely to continue in their faith as they age. Conversely, as people age without faith in God, it often gets harder for them to believe in God. Why? This is the primary purpose of the book of Ecclesiastes.
Solomon didn’t write this book to encourage or promote cynicism. His agenda wasn’t to persuade people towards a nihilistic view of life but the exact opposite.
Reading through this poetic description of the end-of-life stage ought to encourage us to reflect on the value and purpose of our lives now.
Regardless of our current age, this is a reminder that each of us will eventually enter eternity while living under the sun continues for others.
Again, time is a relative concept, especially as we live in an era with longer life expectancies. What was considered to be old age in the past is now looked upon as “the golden years.”
Those who qualify for senior discounts are more active and freer to enjoy life than in previous generations. True, this is a generalization and doesn’t apply to everyone but it is the trend.
The questions you should consider now rather than later are—
Where do things stand between you and your Creator?
Do you believe in God as the Creator of all life?
Do you know every person will one day give an account for their life after death?
It’s better to consider these questions before life slips away and we enter eternity.
Time is short. Life is precious.
Eternity is forever.
God is real, personal, and our Creator.
The Scripture text for this devotional study can be found by clicking the blue button link– “Ecclesiastes Chap 12” [I’ve used God’s Word Translation (GW) for ease of reading but the button link will take you to the text in a parallel version with the NKJV text.]
Also, for further commentary, I recommend Enduring Word by Ptr David Guzik.
