The older I get, the more poignant the words of Ecclesiastes become. The last chapter begins…Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them”— For some, age moves them further from God, not closer. Oh, we all know many whose relationship with God gets sweeter and deeper over time. But just like the writer of Ecclesiastes, I’ve become an observer of people and life. I’ve found that as our bodies stop working the way they used to, many begin to doubt God’s goodness to them. When we discover people younger than us have died, we all take a moment to assess our own mortality.
This last chapter of Ecclesiastes starts with a reminder of who God is. He is the Creator, more than that, He is OUR Creator. He created us with an expiration date. Fortunately for us, He hasn’t shared that date with us. If He did, you and I would live in fear. So, today, remember our God, who loves us, has a plan for each of us. He has a mission and purpose for your life, not only in youth, but also in old age. Your greatest fruitfulness may yet be future…even in old age.
Moses, at the age of eighty, was called by God to lead Israel for the next forty years. Isaiah, a prophet, served during the reign of four consecutive kings who ruled Judah from 791 B.C. to 687 B.C. Daniel, another prophet, served during the reign of six kings who ruled the Babylonian empire, and the king who overthrew the Babylonians and ruled over the much larger Persian empire. Remarkably, both men continued to serve the Lord well into their eighties and nineties actively, and their lives may have extended beyond the age of one hundred.
You may not live to be one hundred, but you and I have opportunities before us…If we would just look. There will be “days of trouble,” but those are not exclusive to aging. They are part of this incredible tapestry called “life.”