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Ecclesiates 12 concludes

Many times my Saturdays also included church, but that was never optional, and by
habitual practice, my youth was spent in much remembrance of God, which my older

years are very thankful for. Nor should our days while not in the house of God wonder
if prayer and study are optional. We should not ask, "I wonder if I will pray and study
today?" Rather, we should joyfully and diligently make every day a good day for
prayer and study. Another point to youthful remembrance of God besides the physical

benefits and foundations of good habits is that remembrance of Him while young can
often be the memories that we have the longest. Have you ever talked with an older
person that may not even have Alzheimer's Disease, but had lived long enough that
their memory had "holes" in it? They were not senile but had just tacked a lot of mile-

age on their odometer. What do they remember the most? What recollections have the
fondest place in their memories and hearts? They remember the days of their youth,
and might forget about last week but can remember 50+ years into the past. If these
memories will stay with us the longest, then we should definitely build them with

good stones of Godly remembrance. When the evil days of life begin to set upon us
when in our twilight years, may we have fond thoughts of God and His mercies to
draw from as vivid and fresh benefits for those trying days.

Life "seems" too busy to focus on God and things of him many times. The world can
easily shut out the things of God for days by occupying it with the cares and trials of
life. May our days dwell upon thoughts of Christ and things Divine - remembering our
Creator. One might say, "But I am now old." Or they might say, "I didn't do this when

I was younger, so what do I think about now?" The wise man Solomon frittered away
much time in service to God, and we might even say that "some" of his younger days
were spent in idolatry. However, he did not encourage the youth but lay down himself.
Quite often, I have seen some older people throw up their hands in defeat saying,

"Well, I waited too long. There's nothing I can do now."

Notice that Solomon admonished his son later in this chapter to take good heed to
what he said. (Verse 12) But, Solomon did not let himself off the hook either. Verse 9

shows that the aged can display wisdom even if they were foolish in their youth. So
what happens if our youthful days are spent in the pleasures of life, forsaking the
thoughts of our Creator? Do we lay down in defeat or expect our children to follow
our same destructive pattern? No, our wisdom comes by setting good proverbs and

thoughts in order for those coming after us. May they still fall victim to similar things?
Possibly, but we should still not neglect our duty to serve God no matter our age.
Youthful abilities have their benefits and aged wisdom is priceless. But whether
young or old, we should all fear God and keep His commandments, for that is our

whole duty while we live upon this plane under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 12:13)