What you young people should remember is not simply what wise king Solomon wrote. We should indeed heed what wise people say and advise us to do. However, the awesome truth and extremely important calling that we have is that which our all-wise and sovereign God, Who moved Solomon to write what he did in the book of Ecclesiastes, demands. Surely this is true as far as the first verse in Ecclesiastes 12 is concerned, where we read: “Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the days draw nigh when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them.
The point, young people, is that you must remember what God calls you to remember. The truth is here that there is that which you must have in mind every step of your earthly way. Note that our God through Solomon tells you to “Remember now.” Get that! You must remember now in “the days of thy youth.” You must remember that God is your creator. This means that every work which you perform, every act that you commit, every day but also every minute in every day, you must set forth the truth that God created you, and that He did so in order that you might serve Him with heart, mind, soul and strength.
Remember then also that it is not simply Solomon who tells you this. It is God Who sets this truth before you and tells you that you may not do anything that denies Him as your creator.
That is extremely hard for us. For the unbelievers it is impossible. It is very, very hard also for us who are much older than you are. Every rational, moral creature has that calling. And to remind us God declares to us through Solomon that it is sin when we do anything without remembering Him as our God and Creator.
What we need to remember then is also that Satan, who is so very, very clever and wise in worldly, sinful things, is very busy trying to get us to forget God and our calling to remember and serve Him. Especially in the days of our youth is this true. And our God through Solomon presents this calling to you because Satan is so clever and wise in a worldly sense that temptations are so very intense in the days of our youth, and he so often and repeatedly gets us to walk in sin. He gets us where it is so hard for us to turn away and to walk in God’s law. Let us put it this way: Satan in the days of our youth gets us to walk in sins so often that also in enthusiasm we walk and make a deep rut which it is so hard to get out of and leave.
Take note of the fact that Solomon tells us here to remember our Creator. We must remember His as our Savior in Christ. But the truth here is that we remember that He brought us into being for His service and glory. As your creator He is the one Whom you must serve with heart, mind, soul and strength. So often we do not remember this. We fail to remember that every heart beat comes from Him and is for our work of love for Him. We do not tell our hearts to beat. We close our eyes in sleep at night and are completely detached from thought about our hearts. Not for one minute, or for that matter one second, do we tell our hearts to continue to beat. So seldom in the day do we tell our bodies to walk in love to God. If we get into some serious trouble we may remember that our whole life is in God’s hands. But it is so very important that our God through Solomon here tells us to remember Him and not forget that we owe everything to Him because He created us, brought us into being and supplies us not only with all the food and drink which we need for life. But, young people, how often today did you have in your consciousness that our God is the one Who is supplying you with the oxygen in the air which you need for life? You do, we hope and pray, thank God for food and drink, clothing and shelter, friends and education. But did you ever thank Him for every breath of life which He has placed around our earthly planet by means of that oxygen?
It is in God that we live, move and have our being. Yet we forget Him most of the time and remember Him occasionally, especially because others speak of Him and remind us. And we forget also that all things are His possessions which MUST be used to serve Him. We must also take hold of and have before our consciousness what our God told us through Paul in II Corinthians 5:10, namely, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that everyone may receive the things done in the body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.”
Especially today this call in Ecclesiastes 12:1 is so important. For we live in a day and age when the world round about us has developed far more in sin than in the days of Solomon. And with the many inventions of man, sin is brought so much closer to us and we are able to commit more sins with more devices and tools. We can do sins which are basically the same as committed in Solomon’s day; but we can commit more of these sins in one day than they could in a week or month. And the sad thing is that even in the church world more sins are allowed and even recommended than in the days of the youth of those who are now your fathers and mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers.
Sad to say, but true, I recall clearly that when I was attending our seminary there was a young man attending another seminary and was expelled because he was caught coming out of a theater where those who did not remember their Creator were on the screen. He had been entertained and enjoyed watching worldly people breaking God’s law rather than remembering Him as their Creator.
But today churches – including the one that expelled this seminary student – will list movies, plays in which sins of those who do not remember their Creator are recommended. On the screen are people imitating sins of others, or most likely even, sins that entertain the flesh of us as we are by nature. Imagine a child of God enjoying the performance of sins, delighting in seeing people forget their Creator!
Young People, if you cannot resist turning on your TV set to see sins committed, get rid of that set! Yes, on newscasts you will see sins that were committed. Scripture does that, too. From Adam and Eve’s sin onward we do learn in God’s word but also by news report of sins that have been committed. But these movies and Hollywood companies entertain by sin. They use murder and theft, adultery and covetousness to entertain, not inform what actually did happen. They take God’s name in vain, recommend and invite breaking the Sabbath and present people who love to walk in those sins. Away from our holy and sovereign God they want to turn our thoughts. And instead of teaching us to hate sin and to flee from it, they entertain and make men enjoy sinful acts.
Therefore, before you turn on your TV set remember your Creator. Remember what Jesus taught us in Matthew 22:37-40. There He said, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind…And…thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto the first Jesus said. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Our God is the One Who created us, and He is the One Who has the right to demand of us that we keep His law and hate all the sin and deviltry in this world.
Do not enjoy sin. Do not seek to see as much of it as you can so that your flesh is delighted. Do not let sinners entertain you and turn you away from our holy God and love of Him. Pray to the sovereign God that He will cause you to remember Him and to plan all your life in that which is love of Him.
Then, too, look for a wife or husband that will help you remember your Creator and bring up your children as those who remember Him. After marriage you will have one who will remember your Creator with you, or serve to keep you from the constant remembrance which is required. Seek one that will help you remember Him. Because our God tells us through Solomon to remember Him in the days of our youth it is so very important whom we choose to live with us in that calling.
Let it also be your guide as far as the work you want to perform. Seek not a job or occupation that will make you forget your God, or keep you from a city where there is a church that will help you remember Him. Remembering your Creator is far more important than gold and silver which you can have only for a few years, and will be taken away from you to the last penny when our Creator stops your heart from beating, and you enter into an everlasting life with Him or away from Him in hellish woe.
And by all means remember what our Creator did for His sons and daughters. Remember the gift of His Son and the salvation which He realized for us through His Son. That we must remember every day of the life which we live here in this vale of tears and sorrows. Remember what His Son did for us and how He walked. We must walk in His footsteps and should remember every day what He did. We must follow Him, for He walked in love to His Father Who is in heaven. Remember that Christ is and must be our example as far as our walk of life here on this earth is concerned.
The question, young people, is not what your flesh wants. That question is whether you are walking in Christ’s footsteps and revealing yourselves as members of His body, all working together under the will of Christ Who is the head of that body. Do only that which He did as far as God’s law is concerned. He remembered His Creator in the days of His youth. Do you remember how He said to the devil when he tempted Him: “It is written: Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God” Matthew 4:4?
Remember that truth which our Savior gave you to make your answer to all that the devil through men and things strives to get you to do. And take a firm hold on what our God through Solomon brings in the last two verses of that book of Ecclesiastes, namely, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” Young People, remember that and take it with you every step of your earthly life.