Ecclesiastes 12:1-7 Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw near, when you shall say… We ought to mind this warning — I. FOR THE LORD'S SAKE. "I wish I could mind God as my little dog minds me," said a little boy, looking thoughtfully at his shaggy friend — "he always seems so pleased to mind, and I don't." That little dog obeyed his young master for his master's sake. He really loved him, and tried to show this love by the cheerful, ready way in which he obeyed him. This was the right thing for him to do; and it is just what God expects us to do. II. FOR OUR OWN SAKE. When we really begin to remember God, and to keep His commandments, God says to each of us, as He said to the Israelites in old time — "from this day will I bless you." And God's blessing is worth more to us than all the world besides. "Remember now thy Creator," was once said to a little boy. "Not yet," said the boy, as he busied himself with his bat and ball; "when I grow older I will think about it." The little boy grew to be a young man. "Remember now thy Creator," his conscience said to him. "Not yet," said the young man; "I am now about to begin my trade; when I see my business prosper, I shall have more time than I can command now." His business did prosper. "Remember now thy Creator," his conscience whispered to him. "Not yet," said the man of business; "my children must now have my care; when they are settled in life, I shall be better able to attend to the claims of religion." He lived to be a grey-headed old man. "Remember now thy Creator," was the voice which conscience once more addressed to him. "Not yet," was still his cry; "I shall soon retire from business, and then I shall have nothing else to do but read and pray." Soon after this he died, without becoming a Christian. He put off to another time what he should have attended to when young, and that caused the loss of his soul. Those two little words — "Not yet" — were his ruin. III. FOR THE SAKE OF OTHERS. God's promise to Abraham, when he began to serve Him, was that he should be a blessing. And God says the same thing to all His people. And not only by our words, but by our actions, and by our prayers, we may be doing good, all the time, to those about us. (R. Newton, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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; |
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