Remember in your youth

Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment. Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity. 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; - Ecclesiastes 11:9 - 12:1

In all that rejoicing of the life we are to have there is something. There is a ‘big but,’ if you will.

‘Remember now your Creator…’ Solomon writes. Enjoy your life but don’t leave God out of it. The next few verses are kind of depressing in their description of getting old with things like our teeth wearing our and our eyes going bad. I remember way back to about 2002 when my arches collapsed and I first need varifocals and thought that was bad. Since then I am sensing the changes, and though I am still in relative good health and trying to stay active I am not the man I was forty years ago. The reality of this passage is starting to sink in.

Remembering God is the counterweight to rejoicing in youth. It is the thing that keeps everything in check. Remembering God is what. Gives me the ability to really enjoy life in a way that does not cause destruction or make me do things I will regret later.

While the youth, and all of us, enjoy life we must also put away evil. ‘Remove sorrow, but put away evil’ Solomon says. We need not do evil to rejoice in our lives. In fact they ought to go hand in hand.

The balance requires the right perspective – and that comes when we focus on remembering God as we go from day to day.