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ECCLESIASTES 12:1 “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.” (KJV)
“Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, before the difficult days come, and the years draw near when you say, “I have no pleasure in them.” (NKJV, NIV, NET)
“Remember 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 delight in them.” (NASB, RSV)
“Don’t let the excitement of being young cause you to forget about your Creator. Honor him in your youth before the evil years come-when you’ll no longer enjoy living.” (TLB)
I have a few things I want to discuss with you, my readers. I hope you are doing well and are keeping up with memorizing chapter and verse of the Bible Scriptures the Lord and I have chosen.
Writing Chapter 74 of this book gives me pause. We are almost finished with Book 3. Soon with Book 4, only 25 verses will be remaining to our goal of 100 verses memorized.
I admit these are my own, personal choices for which verses to memorize. Please know that I have prayed about them. I have memorized them. Many, I have been memorizing for years and am including them in these books. I hope you approve of my choices, but we will leave that with the Lord.
In reading these books, hopefully memorizing many if not all of the Scriptures, you have received some kind of inspiration that is only available from the Holy Spirit. It may be that some of you might even write your own book with additional Scriptures you might also want to memorize.
Please know that I am not against any inputs you might want to send my way. Please feel free to write/email/call/text me with recommendations that you might have. I promise I won’t be offended. Just know that, with only 25 verses left, I want to make sure the last verses are ones I definitely want included for us to study and memorize.
As I mentioned much earlier, Ecclesiastes 12:1 brings back a lot of memories for me. Remember how I described the children’s church “sword drill” we used to have and how my brother, Dan would always shout out “Jesus wept” from John 11:35. I also remarked that I had to pick another verse, hopefully easily remembered, that I could quote and I chose this verse and chimed in, “Remember now thy creator in the days of thy youth.” Danny and I grew up competing sometimes.
Even at a very young age, I understood that I was the “youth” that Solomon was talking to when he was telling me to “remember my creator.” I got away with not quoting the rest of the verse because, frankly, I didn’t understand what it meant…that plus, I think Sister Patterson was just happy any of the children could remember any verses at all.
Now that I am getting ready to pass my 72nd birthday, I think I am qualified to call myself an official “rememberer.” I’m old. Like so many “getting older” folks, I am now qualified to start sentences with the words, “I remember when…” I won’t go into a lot of those right now.
Ecclesiastes 12:1 essentially reminds us to remember. There are a lot of verses in the Bible that call us to remember. My PC Study Bible software points out 164 of them. That easy one in Luke 17:32 that we memorized from Book 1 tells us to “Remember Lot’s wife.” Job told us in Job 7:7 to “remember that my life is a breath.” He also pleads with God to “remember that You have made me like clay,” in 10:9. David pleads in Psalm 25:6-7 “Remember O Lord, Your tender mercies and Your lovingkindness, for they are from of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions.” There’s a prayer we all want to pray!
In Psalm 105:4-5, David reminds us to “remember His marvelous works which He has done.” Paul encouraged the Ephesians to “remember that…you were without Christ…having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus…we have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” (Ephesians 2:11-13) Oh, all the good things God has given us that we need to remember.
Now, here in Ecclesiastes, the writer is reminding us, even when we are young to remember the Lord, our creator. This reminder comes with a warning in the last part of the verse. It reminds us that there may come a time, later in life, when either evil will try separate us from Him or, in our older age, we might start to say, “I don’t have pleasure in that any more.” Oh, that this would never be our case.
Honestly, I don’t like teaching Ecclesiastes. On initial inspection, the writings of Ecclesiastes seem kind of depressing. “All is vanity.” “From dust we come, to dust we return.” It kind of seems like Solomon could have been one of those characters from “Hee Haw” who sang that little song, “Doom, despair, agony on me, Deep dark depression excessive misery, If it weren’t for bad luck I’d have no luck at all, Doom, despair and agony on me.”
Just look at the rest of Ecclesiastes 12: “the clouds return after the rain.” “…the grasshopper drags himself along and desire is no longer stirred.” “…mourners go about the streets.” “everything is meaningless!” Oh my!
Anytime I read, teach or suggest readings from Ecclesiastes, I strongly encourage everyone to keep reading ahead. Fortunately, the very next words in the Bible come from the Song of Solomon. Hubba hubba! Just don’t go back into Ecclesiastes for good cheer!
Unfortunately, I do actually know some Christians very well who make it their call in life to stay miserable. In their defense, the wisdom that comes from the words of Ecclesiastes recognizes that life is going to be difficult. In this world we will find enough sorrows. As we get older, this really seems like it doesn’t get a lot better. The body starts to have problems and we slow down at best or fight sickness and poor health at worse.
Solomon takes a frank look at life and tells us…like we don’t already know…that life is difficult and can seem full of sorrows. Have a doctor tell you that you have cancer and see if you come out beaming. Lose your spouse or a child and it can seem like the world is coming to an end. And don’t depend on the world around you to make it any better…they are worse off than we are. Beware! The world and its hopeless situations can drag you down into despair if you let them. Don’t let that happen to you.
The secret: REMEMBER your Creator…not just in the days of your youth, but all throughout your life. Christians should be best at keeping a proper perspective. We should know how to look beyond our problems. We should be the ones continually looking up! We should be students of the Word and remember all the promises we have memorized from it! Read the rest of the Book!
“The joy of the Lord is our strength.” “In everything give thanks.” “Trust in the Lord with all your heart…He shall direct your path.” “We have everlasting life!” “Whatsoever you do shall prosper.” “I will give you rest.”
We are not like those who suffer as though we have no hope. Honestly, deciding to be miserable in your circumstances is a choice. It isn’t a good choice, but it is a choice. I believe we will be amazed about a hundred years into eternity in heaven when we realized just how short those 70 or 80 years we spent here were.
Hopefully, we won’t look back with regret wishing we had made the decision to focus on Jesus and His promises to us instead of our situation. Yes, if we want to focus on this world and its sorrows we are probably going to live miserable lives, but we don’t have to. YOU DON’T HAVE TO CHOOSE TO BE MISERABLE!
Remember your Creator. Remember that He is good. Remember that in all things, He wants what is best for you. Remember that sorrow may last for a night, but joy comes in the morning! Ask Him for the peace, joy and strength that comes from trusting Him. He promises He will give that to you.
Questions to consider: I would never suggest that we diminish the pain and suffering many of us have to endure sometimes. I recognize life sometimes seems like it is too much for us to handle. But, can you visualize the shortness of this life and its sufferings in comparison to the joy we are promised for eternity after this life? Can that comparison give you relief in your current pain? Have you prayed for relief from your trials and believed that the Lord will answer your prayers? Have you found a Christian brother or sister with whom you can share your burdens and let them help you? Have you offered comfort and a listening ear to someone else who is also struggling?
Other Scriptures to study: 2 Kings 20:3 “Remember, O Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” 1 Chron 16:12 “Remember the wonders He has done, His miracles…” Psalm 63:6 “On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night.” Philemon 4 “I remember you in my prayers…” Psalm 30:5 “Weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning.”
A Song to Remember: “Tell It to Jesus”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7wSIdviQSU
 
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