Ecclesiastes 12
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Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;
2 While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain:
3 In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened,
4 And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of musick shall be brought low;
5 Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets:
6 Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern.
7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
8 Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.
9 And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs.
10 The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth.
11 The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.
12 And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
Public Domain KJV text from Wordproject.org
ESV Bible text displayed through the American Bible Society's Global Bible Widget
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Commentary
Oh, to be young. We remember the vitality and excitement of life, the ease of doing whatever we set out to do, feeling invincible.
Youth is a gift from God. Caught up in making jokes about the frailties of age, we seldom considered that we would sit in their place one day.The body will slow down, and the energy will wane.
This chapter is packed full of delightful metaphors about aging (NLT), each with a focus to Remember Him. God welcomes us late in life, but how much better for us to give Him the prime of our life. Remember Him today. What a wonderful thing it is to give the energy that we have to honoring and serving our God. Life is more meaningful if we align our goals and energies to the highest causes, while listening to wisdom and being teachable.
“With such an army of workers as our youth, rightly trained, might furnish, how soon the message of a crucified, risen, and soon-coming Savior might be carried to the whole world! How soon might the end of suffering and sorrow and sin come, and our children receive their inheritance.” Counsels to Teachers, Parents and Students, p. 555 (adapted)
Art Kharns
Director of Music, Simi Valley Seventh-day Adventist Church, California USA (as of this writing)
