Remember Now Thy Creator
Mr. John Phillips of Marietta, Ga., shares with us his seventh of a continuing series of brief, pithy studies in Ecclesiastes.
Scripture: Ecclesiastes 12:1
“Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth.” It is an imperative call. “Remember!” For youth is prone to forget. It was constant forgetfulness which plagued the youth of John Newton until he sank so low he became the slave of a slave who delighted in her power over him. He forgot, but God remembered and John Newton was saved at last and lifted to a high and holy walk with God. “Amazing grace,” he wrote, looking back in the after years. “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.” Remember! It is an imperative call, for when a young man forgets his God, he wastes his time and talents on worthless things and sells his soul for a mess of pottage.
It is an important call. “Remember now thy Creator.” He has the prior and the higher claim to youth’s potential and youth’s passions. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and mind, soul and strength,” says the first and great commandment. It is a call for total commitment to Christ. Oh, cries Solomon, while the passions are still subject to impulse and impression, remember Him. While the mind is still pliable enough to learn the secrets of the universe, remember thy Creator. While the body is still young and strong, while all of life lies ahead and the tale is yet to be told, remember Him. It is an important call. It is the Creator’s call. None will ever equal it in weight or worth. The call of business, marriage, fame, success is a mere bleat beside the thundering call of God. He has first claim, so heed His call.
It is an impassioned call. Solomon was looking back over a wasted life. Oh, how he wished he could start again, and have his youth renewed like the eagle’s! But it cannot be. However, there is one thing he can do, he can call from the dizzy summit of the throne, from the pinnacle of worldly success, from the deepest experience of passions unreigned and satiated with pleasure, from the wastes of a life lived without God. He can call to young men in the dew of youth and warn of the sorrows of a godless life. “Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth,” he cries. O young man, young woman, remember. It is an impassioned cry.