“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.”–Ecclesiastes 12:1
Yesterday was Memorial Day and our thoughts had to do with those who have died–many at a young age. Now our attention is turned to the living and the need of making the best use of the time we have left. The following comments from the Baptist Bible Hour helps us with this:
“It is inevitable, young person, that you will eventually come to a time—perhaps even years—when you are not even able to enjoy the pleasures of this life anymore. As unthinkable as it may seem right now, you will not always be strong, free of pain, able to eat anything you want (that day is actually coming soon!), or even perhaps able to get out of bed.
Why does Solomon remind us of this fact? Is he just trying to burst our bubble or make us depressed? No. He is writing this admonition so that we will begin now to pour our hearts and lives into pleasures that even old age cannot take away.
Remember now your Creator! Don’t wait until every distraction is taken away from you and God is the only person left to talk to. Serve Him now, even in the middle of a thousand immediate pleasures that may be tempting you away from Him. Because even now He is greater than any of these pleasures.
The truth is that, in your Creator, there are “pleasures for evermore” (Psalm 16:11). He is not reprimanding us for enjoying the earthly pleasures of eating, music, painlessness, or sunsets — your Creator is the one who made these things also. But He is warning us against seeking these niceties as an end in themselves, while we are still able to enjoy them, and forgetting about the greater pleasures that never go away or diminish.
In the presence of God is fullness of joy. Don’t allow yourself to be satisfied with anything less than full joy.”
