Ecclesiastes 12

Bible Passage: Ecclesiates 12

Over the past 11 days, we’ve read about the different vanities of life. How a life without purpose, without God is meaningless and futile. (Sure you might say it had been an emo time. But well, all these are true..)

Now the final chapter pretty much sums up what is most important in life.

Remember the Creator in the days of your youth, before the difficult days come, and the years draw near when you say, “I have no pleasure in them.”…

Ecclesiastes 12: 1

From verses 1 to 8, the preacher says that we have to remember our Creator (who is God) in the days of our youth.. While we are still able to.. Because, as it says in verse 8, in the end, all of us will depart from this earth, and the spirits will return to God who gave it to us.

When we have the capacity to remember Him, let us do so. When the times are not yet difficult for us, all the more we have to remember Him and His commandments, strengthen our faiths and prepare ourselves for the difficult days ahead, which I think you can agree are sure to come.

Wouldn’t it be such a great vanity in life if we were to fall towards the end? When it is too late for us to remember our Creator?

Man’s All…

The last 2 verses stamp the conclusion for the entire matter as laid out in this book…

Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all.For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil…

Ecclesiastes 12: 13-14

While on earth, we may have our own labours and works to do. We may do things in order to obtain some goal or achievement in life. That is fine and dandy and all that, but still not even remotely the most important thing.. For our main duty is to obey the commandments of God and keep them..

In whatever we do outwardly or inwardly, in our innermost thoughts, having done those, we must ask ourselves if we have managed to keep His commandments and obey them. I know I’m am uber-mega-super-ultra-mondo far away from reaching that standard, and have much, much, much more to improve on..

We may achieve great things in life, but in the end, they’ll all be vanities, for they cannot save us. God knows everything that we have done, and He will bring them into judgment, no matter how glorious (to men) our life’s material achievements may be.

If we do not keep His commandments, how can we face Him when He comes again?

If we do not keep His commandments in our lives or have our hope in Him, then that would be the greatest vanity in life…

That they may set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments…

Psalms 78: 7