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 12:1
My grandmother told me one time of a man in Massachusetts who walked two miles to work each day and walked home again at the end of his day’s work. He was a janitor at a large church, and his job was to keep the place clean and well maintained. He did fairly well for a man of his age: he was 102. And he never missed a day’s work. We could all wish to be so healthy for so long. But the reality is that most of us, if we reach old age, will be unable to enjoy the activities of our youth. So in today’s text, the Preacher is reminding young people that this is the time to remember their Creator.
As we get older, the obituary column in the newspaper becomes more important; we need to check to see if, no, who, among our acquaintances are gone. Meanwhile, the grandchildren playing about the house, with their joyful laughter and chatter, remind us that the carefree hearts of the little ones know little of the heartaches and sorrows of evil days. More and more often we have to take the respect-paying trip to the funeral home, or hear about some dear friend suffering from an incurable disease, or lament with other loved ones about the loss of a home or the sufferings of accidents. Grief and pain increase with the passing years. That’s life. But it also reminds us that the young folks need to be turned towards consideration of their Creator in the days when the pain and sorrows are tiny.
We all like to be taken back in memory to our childhood days, to reminisce with family members about some jolly event of yore. Some of those happiest memories for me were times when the things of the Lord were brought before us and we were taught great truths from His Word. Children, and teenagers too, need to be given solid foundations in the Scripture, in Assembly truth, in holiness and morality while they are still in their tender years. That way, when the evil days come, they will have a foundation of Scripture on which to rest and a fountain of memories on which to draw. -Jim MacIntosh