Ecclesiastes 12.1,6-7
“Remember your creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say ‘I find no pleasure in them’.”…”Remember him – before the silver cord is severed, or the golden bowl is broken; before the pitcher is shattered at the spring, or the wheel broken at the well, and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.”
The writer of Ecclesiastes identifies himself as “The Teacher”, and here he exhorts his readers to find their purpose as those to whom God had given life. It is important to do this while we have the physical and mental strength to serve God, as the days will come, as verses 2 to 5 describe in beautiful metaphor (take a moment now to open your Bible and read them), when the evening of life comes (v.2), and we lose the strength in our legs and arms, our teeth, our eyesight (v.3), our hearing (v.4), our courage and enthusiasm (v.5). This life is limited: I have already had more than my threescore years and ten. If my life so far has brought any pleasure to God, then I am glad of his gracious work in me, but I am conscious that the opportunities for service in the years which are now past exceeded any possibilities which remain in whatever time I have left. Did I use those years for my Saviour, or did I focus on what I wanted? Let’s do whatever we can for God, while we still can.
Father, help me to make the most of the life you give me for you.
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