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Remember Now Your Creator
Remember Now Your Creator
“Remember now your Creator, in the days of your youth, before the difficult days come…” Ecclesiastes 12.1
The author of Ecclesiastes, likely King Solomon, explains throughout the book that he cannot find any meaning in life despite having so many opportunities and resources available to him. He found that “all is vanity and grasping for the wind” (Ecclesiastes 1.14). The only meaning in life that could be found was to “fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all” (Ecclesiastes 12.13). In other words, he has sought value in every possible way, but the only true way to live is by remembering the Creator. We will look at three key phrases in Ecclesiastes 12.1 to help us pursue this way of living.
Remember now your Creator
The word “remember” in this verse is not used the way we tend to use that word today. Typically we say we remember something when it crosses our mind momentarily after previously forgetting it. In the Bible, the word is usually used as covenant language. For example, “then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham I will remember. I will remember the land” (Leviticus 26.42). When God says He will remember something He is saying that He will continue in His covenant. Remembering your Creator means honoring and upholding your covenant with Him. Do not make Sundays the only day that we remember our Creator. Instead, remembering God is a lifestyle that should be seen in our daily lives. Remembering our Creator means recognizing His existence in all aspects of our lives.
In the days of your youth
At the end of Ecclesiastes, the author is addressing a young man specifically. “Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth” (Ecclesiastes 11.9). Being young usually means having more freedom. Less financial responsibilities, less time commitments, and more energy should equal a lifestyle with freedom. Many choose to use their youthful freedom to pursue their own desires. The author of Ecclesiastes says this about a younger time in his life, “Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure” (Ecclesiastes 2.10). Based on the book’s conclusion, the author wishes he could have his youthful freedom back and devote that time to knowing his Creator. What will you do with the freedom you have? Whether you have freedom because of
your youthful energy, middle-aged income, or flexible schedule in retirement, use your freedom to remember your Creator.
Before the difficult days come
As discussed above, this verse could be encouraging us to pursue God while we still have freedom and energy before the difficult days come. The verse is also telling us to remember God now in our youth because when we get older we could be less likely to want to know God. The verse continues, “and the years draw near when you say, ‘I have no pleasure in them’” (Ecclesiastes 12.1). The plea for the reader is to remember God while life is still easy physically. As decades of vanities compile, and a body tires out, it becomes less and less likely for someone to want to remember the Creator. Difficult days will come as our bodies age, but how much more difficult will we make those days for ourselves if we do not remember our Creator now while our bodies are still functioning. Difficult days will become impossible days if we are ignoring God. No matter your age, there is no better time than now to remember your Creator.
-Will Speer
