Ecclesiastes 12:1-4 says,...Bible reading week 14, day 1

Today's verses are Ecclesiastes 12:1-4, which read,

v.1 - 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";...

These four verses are actually one long sentence but we will break it up in the verses that are given to us.  We are in the final chapter of Ecclesiastes and will soon finish this great book and be searching for where we go next.  Solomon has emphasized over and over the need to make some good decisions while we are young.  Oh the joy to have come to faith in Christ as one young and to live a whole life following after Him.  How many I have heard that have come to faith later and said they wished they would have responded sooner.  The days of young are days when the world looks brighter and cleaner.  There is more happiness and less responsibility as you are under the care of another but the days darkened as we age and understand what is going on around us.  I have also heard some older people say, "It's tough getting old" and "Getting old is not all that its cracked up to be."  Let us continue to pray for our children and the children God has put around us to acknowledge God and follow after Him so that they have that footing when they start feeling the pressures of life.

v.2 - ...before the sun and the light, the moon and stars are darkened, and clouds return after the rain;...

These are all word pictures about getting older.  Our eyes start to fail us and the sun and light, moon and stars become dimmer.  It always seems to be raining and if it stops raining, there is another cloud coming with rain or to hide the sun we desperately want to see and feel its warmth.  Our blood circulation is slowing and thinning and therefore we require more heat and clothing to feel comfortable.  Our physical bodies are winding down and how we long for when we could head out of the house with just the shirt on our backs and soaking up the cold rain and it didn't matter.  

Isaiah 5:30 uses this same imagery.

On that day they will roar over it, like the roaring of the sea.  When one looks at the land, there will be darkness and distress; light will be obscured by clouds.

We also find it in Ezekiel 32:7 and 8.

When I snuff you out, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars.  I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light.  I will darken all the shining lights in the heavens over you, and will bring darkness on your land.  This is the declaration of the Lord GOD.

v. 3 - ...in the day that the watchmen of the house tremble, and mighty men stoop, the grinding ones stand idle because they are few, and those who look through windows grow dim;...

Do you see the description of an old person here?  The watchman is the one is charge and the protector of others but he is starting to tremble.  We shake a little more as we get older.  We stoop over it little more when we used to stand stand and mighty.  Our grinding ones, our teeth, are getting few or not as sharp as they used to be.  Our windows, our eyes, are requiring surgeries to see as we once did.  Solomon can stop at anytime now because it is getting a little painful reading about myself here.  I relate to all of this characteristics.  One common phrase used in the Old Testament to describe someone who was getting old was that their eyesight was failing them.

v.4 - ...and the doors on the street are shut as the sound of the grinding mill is low, and one will arise at the sound of the bird, and all the daughters of song will sing softly.

Solomon continues to give us a picture of one who is approaching their "death bed."  The doors could be your lips that are not talking as much as your grinding mill, your teeth, are not eating as much.  The sound of the bird and the daughters of song are now singing softly because your ears are not picking up the volume as they once did.  All your senses are starting to fail you as you approach the grave.

I know this is morbid and Wednesday will also bring more but also the call whether you are young or whether you are old to remember and follow after God.  Death is inevitable so live this life in light of the One who created it and has made His own provisions for you to go beyond it into something greater.  Of course, Solomon doesn't express this here but we are people of the New Testament who have seen the fulfillment of God's Son, Jesus, and the cross and the empty tomb.  So remember God in your youth but as we will see Wednesday, Solomon will also say to remember God is your aged condition too.  Let us pray.

"Lord, all of life is precious to be used for Your glory.  Each day is a gift and not to be wasted but rather enjoyed and invested in following after You.  May we see how this day You have given to us may be used in a way that we remember who You are.  Amen."  

Pastor Adam