Remember Your Creator While You Are Young (Ecclesiastes 12:1) - Before Our Bodies Betray Us

"Remember your creator while you are young, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, 'I have no pleasure in them'" Says Solomon in Ecclesiastes 12:1. In the following verses Solomon provides one of the most imaginative descriptions of old age and death anywhere in Scripture. Commentators don’t agree on all the details, but they do agree on the main idea that there is a house that represents our bodies and it’s falling apart until it finally turns to dust, like us. When you’re young you typically don’t have the sort of physical problems that Solomon describes in these verses that older people have.

God has given youth time, energy, strength, vitality, intellect, desire, passion, talent. Basically, He’s given you the very things that these verses say you will lose over time as you get older. So make the most of these things available to you while you are young and you still can; when you have the energy, when you don’t have the limitations you will have when you are older, when everything is working well for you. Don’t waste what God is giving you on worldly and meaningless activities and pursuits.

You only have these gifts, talents, and strengths for a limited amount of time, because they are going to diminish as you get older. So use them to their fullest when you are young.

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Lessons for Remember Now Your Creator in the Days of Your Youth

00:00 Lesson 1: our body (Ecclesiastes 12:2-6):

14:48 • Part 1: is ______________.

17:44 • Part 2: is ________________.

18:04 • Part 3: ______ “__________” suddenly and unexpectedly.

Lesson 2: it is easy to forget our Creator in the days of our youth because (Ecclesiastes 12:1):

25:18 • Part 1: everything is ______________ ________.

27:30 • Part 2: ______________ ______ seems far away.

29:58 • Part 3: of the __________.

33:05 Lesson 3: remember your Creator in the days of your youth before your ________

______________ you (Ecclesiastes 12:1-6).

44:19 Lesson 4: life without Christ ____ ________ (Ecclesiastes 12:8 cf. 1 Corinthians 15:58).

Family Worship Guide for Remember Now Your Creator in the Days of Your Youth

Day 1: Read Ecclesiastes 12:2-6 and discuss: looking at the verses, in what ways does Solomon describe our bodies “betraying us,” or breaking down? What do you think the four objects in verse six represent? Besides fragile, valuable, and able to break suddenly and unexpectedly, what other ways would you describe our physical bodies?

Day 2: Read Ecclesiastes 12:1-2, and verse 6, and discuss: why is it so important to remember our Creator in the days of our youth, versus the later days of our lives? In other words, why did Solomon direct this admonition to young people versus all people? Why do you think it is so easy to forget our Creator in the days of our youth? What other reasons can you think of that Pastor Scott did not give in his sermon?

Day 3: Read Ecclesiastes 12:8 and 1 Corinthians 15:58 and discuss: why did Solomon think life was vain? In other words, why was life so empty for him, especially considering all of his wealth, fame, power, indulgence, and the list goes on? What prevents our lives, and in particular our labor, from being in vain?