Ecclesiastes 12:1-8: a reflection

1Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come, and the years draw near, when you will say, “I have no pleasure in them;” 2Before the sun, the light, the moon, and the stars are darkened, and the clouds return after the rain; 3in 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 who look out of the windows are darkened, 4and the doors shall be shut in the street; when the sound of the grinding is low, and one shall rise up at the voice of a bird, and all the daughters of music shall be brought low; 5yes, they shall be afraid of heights, and terrors will be on the way; and the almond tree shall blossom, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail; because man goes to his everlasting home, and the mourners go about the streets; 6before the silver cord is severed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is broken at the spring, or the wheel broken at the cistern, 7and 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!”

The Preacher, having surveyed the fleeting nature of life under the sun, ends with a call: Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the difficult days come and the years draw near when you will find no pleasure in them. He goes on to describe, in poetic images, the decline of old age and the approach of death, when the body fails and desire fades, until the dust returns to the earth and the spirit returns to God who gave it. Life is brief and fleeting; so, he urges, remember your Creator now.

Notice the call to remember God now, in youth and strength, before the difficult days and death come. The Preacher does not say to remember God only at the end, when death approaches and there is nothing else left; he says to remember him now, in the days of strength, before decline sets in. Life is short and its strength passes quickly; the time to turn to God, to remember and seek him, is now, not later, not at some vague future point when it may be too late.

That is a word against the temptation to put God off. We can imagine that there will be time later to attend to God, when we are older, less busy, nearer the end; and so we give our best years to other things, meaning to turn to him eventually. But the Preacher urges us to remember our Creator now, while we have strength and days, for life is fleeting and the difficult days come. Do not put off seeking God until later, presuming on a future that is not guaranteed. Remember your Creator now, in the days of your strength; give him your life while you have it to give, rather than only its dregs at the end. The time to turn to God is now, while you can.

Lord, the Preacher urges me to remember my Creator in the days of my youth, before the difficult days come and the years draw near when I will find no pleasure in them; for life is brief, and the dust returns to the earth and the spirit to you who gave it. Let that call reach me. You do not tell me to remember you only at the end, when death approaches and nothing else is left, but now, in the days of strength, before decline sets in. Guard me from the temptation to put you off. I can imagine there will be time later to attend to you, when I am older, less busy, nearer the end, and so give my best years to other things, meaning to turn to you eventually. But help me remember my Creator now, while I have strength and days, for life is fleeting. Keep me from presuming on a future that is not guaranteed. Help me give you my life while I have it to give, rather than only its dregs at the end. I turn to you now.