Remember Your Creator (Ecclesiastes 11:1-12:8)
If you could go back in time and speak with your younger self, what advice would you give to him or her? Here’s a sample of responses, from a poll of some church members:
Enjoy the season of life you are in. Do not be in a rush to move on to the next thing.
Do not be impulsive and impatient. Be less proud and more teachable.
Be content with what you have
Do not take yourself too seriously
Learn new things
Build lasting friendships
Do not study so hard
Show more grace to your children
Consider how your actions will affect others
Serve God earlier
Do not stop trusting God
What advice would we give to our younger selves? What do we wish we knew then that we know now? In our passage, the Preacher sounds like he is giving advice to his younger self. His words are aimed at the “young man” (Ecc 11:9) or “youth” (Ecc 11:9, 10; 12:1). We hear the word “youth” and we think “teenagers”. But the Preacher is not only speaking to the adolescents among us. His message is for all of us. Whether we are young or old, as long as we are alive, we can hear and respond to the Preacher’s words.
We are nearing the end of Ecclesiastes. We have journeyed with the Preacher on his quest for the meaning of life. We have heard his observations of life under the sun. All is vanity; all is futile and fleeting. There is no lasting gain from all our toil under the sun. Death is certain, life is not. “All go to one place. All are from the dust and to dust all return. (Ecc 3:20)” But the Preacher’s message is not one of doom and gloom. He wants us to remember death that we might truly live. The inescapable fact of death should move us to make every moment of our lives count. Live well. Live fully into death. Live in the reality of death by reaping, rejoicing, and remembering. This is the big idea. We will unpack it in three points: (1) Reap, (2) Rejoice, (3) Remember.
Reap (Ecc 11:1-6)
Throughout Ecclesiastes, the Preacher has observed how life is unpredictable. He said in Ecclesiastes 9:11, “Time and chance happen to all”. Life happens. Because we are not ultimately in control, we cannot foresee how everything will turn out. One wrong response to life’s ups and downs is to give in to worry. Our fears can overwhelm us — fear of the unknown, fear of failure, fear of change, fear of what other people think, fear of dying. Worry can be paralysing. We fail to live life because we are stuck in indecision and inaction.
Another wrong response is to become indifferent or passive. We may be tempted to not care. Why bother, since we cannot finally control how things will turn out anyway? But neither anxiety nor apathy is the answer, says the Preacher. Be bold, not because we can know it all or do it all, but because we can trust in the God who does. “Just do it” — that is the slogan of a well-known sports brand. It is also the Preacher’s point in these verses. Do not just sit or stand there —do something. Be faithful and fervent. Live life!
Be enterprising. Take risks. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Look at Ecclesiastes 11:1 — “Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days.” This may be a picture of a ship launching out to trade in distant lands. In biblical times, sea voyages were especially dangerous. Seas symbolised chaos. For example, think of the sailors’ fear during the storm with Jonah on the ship, or Paul’s shipwreck in Acts. But don’t let life’s uncertainties keep us from taking action. As the Preacher said in Ecclesiastes 9:10, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might.” Be all in. Be fully invested in what God gives us to do. Life may be fleeting, but take a long-term view. Do not live for instant gratification. The return on investment may only be after many days.
Listen to Ecclesiastes 11:2 — “Give a portion to seven, or even to eight, for you know not what disaster may happen on earth.” The Preacher may be telling us to diversify our portfolio, to not put all our eggs in one basket. More than that, he is also calling us to be boldly generous. Because life is uncertain, share and give a portion to others in need. Do not strive selfishly for yourself. Life’s uncertainties can make us self-centred. Instead of looking to God to provide, we rely on what we can accumulate for ourselves. Examine our hearts: Are we wisely saving or fearfully hoarding? How willing we are to be generous with others is a good test of whether we are trusting in God or money. Give, for we have received much. Consider the grace of the Lord Jesus. Though He was rich, yet for our sake He became poor, so that we by His poverty might become rich.
Do not wait for the ideal conditions before taking action. They may never come. Do not say we will serve God when we’re less busy, when the children are older, or when we retire. How can we be sure we will be able to serve God then? Instead, we should be faithful with the opportunities God gives us now. Whatever God has given us to do in this season, whether in the home, at school, or in the marketplace, let’s do it wholeheartedly for the Lord. Focus on what God has put in front of us, instead of worrying about what we cannot control. Ecclesiastes 11: 3-4 give examples of such things. It will rain when it rains. A tree will fall wherever it falls. The “right time” is beyond our control. He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap. Do not watch the weather so closely that we forget to be faithful. For instance, have we been avoiding evangelism because we’re always waiting for “a better time” to share the gospel? Are you also waiting for a better time to come to Jesus? Stop putting it off. There is no better time than now to repent and believe in Jesus. He died and rose from the dead to save sinners like us. He readily receives all who will trust in him. Why wait?
Be bold and generous. Be faithful and fervent. Leave the results to God. Our role is simply to trust and obey Him. The outcomes are in God’s hands, not ours. God is God; we are not. He knows all things; He works all things according to His good and wise plan. He is the sovereign God who gives life. Look at Ecclesiastes 11:5 — “As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.” Our life and breath come from God. Everything is a gift from Him. Should not this make us bolder to venture everything on Him and for Him? None of our stuff really belongs to us anyway. Even our life is on loan from God. Do not grip our life and stuff so tightly that we cannot open our hands to God. Those who cling to life die. Think about what Jesus said: “Whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. (Lk 9:24)”
We do not like living with the tension of not knowing.
We do not like living with the tension of not knowing. If we had our way, we would rather have God remove all the twists and turns in our lives. No surprises; just get us from point A to point B in the easiest way possible. We want God to reveal the whole plan from start to finish. But how, then, will we learn humility, faith, patience, wisdom, endurance and dependence? So, live, love, and serve to the fullest. Do not be paralysed by fear. Use whatever opportunities God has given us for His glory. Keep sowing—morning and evening (Ecc 11:6). Who knows how much we will reap? But one thing is certain: We will not reap if we do not sow. Do not be so worried by the “what-ifs” that we end up doing nothing. Life and labour are gifts from God, so make them count. Be bold for the Lord. We plant and water by faith, trusting God to give the growth. Be like the farmer in Jesus’ parable who scatters seed on the ground, then goes to sleep. The seed sprouts and grows; the farmer knows not how. Like him, we can labour and leave it to the Lord.
As a church, let us persevere in making disciples. Keep sharing the gospel. Keep being hospitable. Keep reading the Bible with one another, keep loving and serving one another. Keep teaching our children about Jesus. Keep speaking the truth in love to one another. Keep training men and women for ministry. Keep raising up elders and deacons. Keep doing missions to spread the gospel to all peoples and nations. Keep building healthy churches. What fruit will our labours produce? That is not up to us. Our part is to simply sow in faith and faithfulness. We hope to plant a church in the next few years. Earlier this year, we elected Ryan Curia to serve as a pastor with us, to potentially lead the plant. Lord willing, he will be joining us in October. Our plans may work out, or they may not. There are risks and unknowns. But I am encouraged by Ecclesiastes 11:6 to press on to grow the gospel. Let us sow in faith and trust God with the outcomes. May He grant us the privilege of reaping a harvest of gospel fruit.
Rejoice (Ecc 11:7-10)
Having spent the past two months in Ecclesiastes, we may have noticed how the Preacher repeats himself on several points. Here, for the seventh time, he urges us to rejoice. Joy is not optional; it is necessary. But the fact that the Preacher has to repeatedly exhort us to rejoice tells us joy does not always come easily or naturally. In fact, it can be a real struggle to rejoice under the sun. After all, all is vanity. We spend our futile and fleeting lives toiling away, then we die. Where is the joy in that?
Perhaps we find it hard to rejoice because we expect too much from life under the sun. If we think we will find complete satisfaction and full fulfilment in this life, we will be disappointed. If we are think our efforts entitle us to significance, security, and success, we will be disillusioned. So, right from the beginning of Ecclesiastes, the Preacher makes it clear that we cannot expect lasting gain from our toil under the sun (Ecc 1:3). Life is not ours to control. Life is uncertain. Life happens.
Having this perspective leads to joy, not gloom. How so? When we are trapped in the prison of our expectations, we will keep striving for more. We will not be content. But if we realise life and everything are gifts from God, we are free to enjoy all that He gives. Instead of always wanting and expecting more, we can be content with what we have now. Our attitude changes from being entitled to being thankful. To encourage this right perspective, the Preacher gives us three reasons why we should rejoice.
Reason 1: Rejoice, because life is gift.
Listen to Ecclesiastes 11:7 — “Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun.” Here, light is a metaphor for life. It is good. It is better to be alive than deceased. As we heard last week, “a living dog is better than a dead lion” (9:4). Life is a good gift from the good God. He made us to know and enjoy Him forever. Although God made us upright, we have all sinned against the One who made us for his glory. We deserve death, for we have turned our backs on the only Source of life. But God continues to sustain our breath and being. By His mercies, we are still alive. Life is an undeserved gift. Shouldn’t we rejoice in it?
Reason 2: Rejoice, because death is coming.
Death is certain (Ecc 11:8). So, live life with death in view. Pursue joy, however many years of life God gives us. Treasure life, for it is finite and fleeting. Be wise and number our days. Each passing day brings us closer to the darkness of death. Our culture does not like to think about death. Ironically, we sensationalise death in the media, while avoiding honest conversations about dying. But facing our mortality is the key to living well, says the Preacher.
Remembering death makes joy more urgent. The breath of life will soon disappear. So, do not postpone joy, thinking we will only be happy if we had this or that. Do not let anxious ambition or stressed-out striving rob us of joy. Instead of worrying our days away, let us enjoy whatever God has put before us. To rejoice means to be grateful to God for His gifts: such as the simple pleasures of food and drink; the warmth of family and friends, the honest toil of work, the illumination of wisdom, and the provision of wealth. To rejoice means to be content with our lot under the sun. Instead of complaining about what we do not have, cultivate contentment in what we have. To rejoice means to make the best use of all that God has entrusted to us — not in a self-serving way, but to serve others. To rejoice means to anchor our joy in God the generous giver. The gifts will come and go. Circumstances will change. There will be good and bad times, seasons of celebration as well as sorrow. We may wrestle with discouragement and depression. Our feelings may shift like the sand. But God remains the same. Whatever we are going through, he is ever our joy.
To have true joy, we must think the right things, love the right things, and want the right things.
“Youth is wasted on the young.” So, the saying goes. In our younger days, we wrongly think we have all the time in the world. Then, in the blink of an eye, time and life pass us by. For this reason, the Preacher encourages us to rejoice now. Do not procrastinate. Listen to the first part of Ecclesiastes 11:9 — “Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes.” In the Bible, the heart does not just refer to our emotions. The heart is the core of our person; it is who we really are on the inside. Our heart consists of how we think, what we love, and what we want. To have true joy, we must think the right things, love the right things, and want the right things. How? Only by knowing God, who wants us to be happy in Him. Joy is a fruit of God’s Spirit working in us. When we worship Him with our hearts, we have joy by walking in the ways of our heart. Augustine described the Christian life like this: “Love God and do what you like.”
Therefore, turn to God while we are younger (Ecc 11:10). Do not wait for youth and the dawn of life are vanity. They are fleeting. So, while we can, remove vexation from (our) heart, and put away pain from (our) body. We get bitter and angry about life when we forget God and his goodness. Knowing God enables us to be grateful, not grumpy. May our spirit grow sweeter with age, as we know God more and more. May time mature us like wine, not make us sour like vinegar.
Reason 3: Rejoice, because judgement is coming. Look at the rest of Ecclesiastes 11:9 — “But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgement.” Perhaps we think God is restricting our joy, as if He is worried we might get carried away and have too much fun. But I do not think that’s how we should understand this verse. God wants us to have abounding, overflowing joy. His concern is that we find our joy in Him — in His word and ways, for they are always good. God will call us to account for whether or not we have rejoiced in Him. The final judgement will expose where we have sought for joy. So, enjoy responsibly and wisely by looking to God, the giver of true joy. One writer said, “To neglect God is to neglect joy… Fear him. And watch the freedom and fun follow.”
Remember (Ecc 12:1-8)
The Preacher exhorts us to live in the reality of death by reaping, rejoicing and, finally, remembering. Look at Ecclesiastes 12:1 — “Remember also your Creator.” To remember means a lot more than merely recalling some fact or information. To remember involves a commitment to trust and hold fast. To remember means to rely on God, assured of who He is. The Preacher wants us to remember that God is our Creator. He is the sovereign Maker of the entire universe. More than that, he made you and me. He knows each and every one of us personally, intimately. As David says in Psalm 139: “O LORD, you have searched me and known me!... I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made… In your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” Because God is our Creator, He knows our beginning and our end. He is sovereign over our lives. We can trust Him, for our times and seasons are in His hand. To remember our Creator also means acknowledging how everything comes from Him. Rest in God, our Provider. Be humbled and repent of our pride and self-sufficiency. Be thankful to God for life and everything. Everything is a gift from the generous hand of our Creator. Receive it gratefully and gladly. Do not overlook the ordinary pleasures of life. Give thanks for small mercies and daily bread. Worship the Giver, not the gifts. Only He can truly satisfy us.
It is never too early to go to God. Do not delay; do so while you are younger, before the evil days come.
When should we remember? In the days of your youth, says the Preacher. It is never too early to go to God. Do not delay; do so while you are younger, before the evil days come. “Evil” here does not mean wicked; it means difficult. The difficult days of death are drawing near. Death casts its shadow over our lives, as we experience the ravages of time and ageing. Our days will get harder, and we will take no pleasure in them. We will feel our mortality more and more, as our bodies weaken and become more frail. So, trust in God today; do not wait until we are older. Do not be foolish, thinking we can keep putting God off. Just because some turn to the Lord later in life or even near the end of life does not give us an excuse to procrastinate.
Do not underestimate the challenges of ageing and death. Ecclesiastes 12:2-7 poetically describe our mortality. Ecclesiastes is bookended by two poems. The first, in Ecclesiastes 1, describes creation going round in circles. Nothing is gained and there is nothing new under the sun. Here, the poem focuses on man’s decline. Like creation, we end our years with a sigh without any lasting gain. Ecclesiastes 12:2 paints a sombre scene — a gloomy day with clouds dark and threatening. The storm of death is looming. The mention of the darkening sun, moon, and stars echoes the Old Testament prophets describing the end of the world. Jesus uses similar language in Matthew 24: “The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” Our death parallels the end of time under the sun.
In Ecclesiastes 12:3, the keepers of the house might refer to our hands, which shake with age. The strong men could be our legs, which are bent because we no longer have the strength to walk or stand upright. The grinders might refer to our teeth. With fewer of them, eating becomes harder. The windows might be our eyes, which grow dim. Aches and ailments accompany ageing. Ecclesiastes 12:4-5 describe the difficulties of getting older: The lack of activity and sleep, the decline in mood, the fear of falling, the fear of going out, the greying hair, the worsening physical mobility, and the waning appetite. Some of us can relate to these verses. They describe our day-to-day experience.
Recently, I was quite struck by photos in the news of actor Jet Li in hospital. I grew up watching his martial arts movies, and have always been amazed by his strength, speed and agility. It was sobering to see him looking rather frail in a hospital bed. The reality of age and mortality hit home. Even action movie stars get older. We live in death’s shadow. Man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets. Our lives begin with a birthday party but they will all end with a funeral. We get weaker as the end is nigh. Then, one day, death will suddenly take us. Listen to Ecclesiastes 12:6-7 — “The silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.” Death is final and irreversible. We cannot forecast when we will die. We have no control over ageing and death. So, remember God now, while we can. The mention of dust recalls the curse that has befallen us due to our sin against our Creator. We will die, “for we are dust, and to dust we shall return.” (Gen 3:19) In Ecclesiastes 12:8, Ecclesiastes closes as it began: Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher; all is vanity. Under the sun, life is futile and fleeting.
What if we can no longer remember God? As we get older, our minds and memories may fail us. We may suffer from dementia. What if we forget who we are and who God is? Rest assured that our Creator God will never forget or forsake us. He will ever remember His own. Our security and hope do not depend on our memory, but on His. And, He will never forget His people. God has bound Himself to His people in an unbreakable covenant of grace. He will always be faithful to His promises to save. In Isaiah 49, God says to His people: “I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.” It is God who holds us fast. He remains faithful, even if we are faithless. In the fullness of time, God remembered His covenant promises. He sent His Son, Jesus, to save sinners. Jesus died on the cross to bear God’s judgement and wrath in our place, if we trust in Him. He was raised in glory, defeating sin and death. If we repent and believe in Jesus, our sins are forgiven. In Christ, we are God’s people.
We will groan as our earthly bodies wear down. The aches and pains we endure every day remind us that all is vanity under the sun. This world is passing away. But if we are in Christ, we have a sure hope of glory. One day, we shall be resurrected and glorified with our Lord. Death will be swallowed up by life. Till then, we walk by faith, not by sight. God will keep us for that day. In a while, we will sing Precious Lord, Take My Hand. Thomas Dorsey wrote this song in 1932 after his wife died during childbirth. Two days later, his newborn son also died. But even in the face of such unspeakable loss, we can continue to trust and hope in the One who rose from the dead. He holds our hand.
The Preacher calls us to remember our Creator now, while we can. And now that Christ has died and risen, we have the greater privilege of also remembering Jesus our Redeemer. Because Christ has conquered the grave, we need not fear ageing and death. Amid the physical and mental struggles of growing older, we need not lose heart. In Christ, our hope is sure. “Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Cor 4:16-18)”