One of the joys of pastoring is celebrating the milestone achievements of the people you serve and love. Over the previous few weeks, I have had the distinct joy of attending numerous graduations, from kindergarten to college, marking the significance of a completed goal. While people of any age can, and do, pursue their betterment through education, typically most graduates are budding teenagers or ambitious young adults.
With the backdrop of this youthful vigor, I’d like to offer a few important life lessons for the young and old alike. Born out of the collective insights of history’s wisest man, these reminders have stood the test of time for all generations. Near the end of his life, King Solomon offered this sage counsel for our benefit.
Life without God is pointless
“Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near when you will say, ‘I have no delight in them’” (Ecc. 12:1). These words serve as a helpful reminder that the greatest opportunity under the sun is knowing God personally. By emphasizing the necessity of paying attention to your maker early, Solomon exposes the improbability of our growing less instead of more cynical as we age.
By listing the traumas of old age (Ecc. 12:3-7), Israel’s most successful king prioritizes giving God the best years of our lives. The premise here is not that children and teenagers love the Lord more than adults. Instead, the clear point is that refusing to live for your Creator when you are young makes it much less likely that you will do so as you grow old. Refusing to acknowledge God leads to great regret and an unhealthy obsession with the perils of aging.
This principle runs contrary to our modern live-and-let-live fixation, which lauds sowing our wild oats before moving into adulthood. Giving God the best years of our existence opens the door for fulfillment and blessings. Waiting to honor and worship Him, though, subjects us to much heartache and lament as we mature, largely because doing so shows contempt for the Lord’s holiness and majesty.
Years ago, I heard a sobering testimony of a teenage girl who admitted her desire to live for herself and worldly pleasures until she grew old, at which time she would give herself fully to Jesus. Upon hearing these words, sensing an opportunity, an aged Christian woman sent her a box of wilted flowers.
She later explained to the girl, “I cut the flowers on Monday of this week, and they were so beautiful. By week’s end, when they wilted and were ready to die, I thought of you. Young lady, that is exactly what you’re doing to God. You are saying that you will enjoy the young flower of your life, but when your life is old and wilted you will give it to the Lord.” No wonder the Bible instructs us to remember God in the days of our youth.
Wisdom without revelation is foolish
Because one graduation often leads to another, understanding the true source of wisdom is crucial. By describing his efforts to capture God’s directives in writing, Solomon reveals both the nature and value of Scripture. As king, he sought to share truth through proverbs by pondering persuasive words and their careful arrangement, with the goal of presenting reality correctly (Ecc. 12:9-10).
These human efforts should not dissuade us from the divine inspiration of the Bible, though, because the collections of Scripture are all given by one Shepherd, namely the Lord Himself (Ecc. 12:11). In other words, God chose to reveal truth through the human instruments of prophets, kings, and apostles as the Holy Spirit moved them (1 Pet. 1:20-21).
Consequently, the Bible is more important than any book in history. In my personal library are textbooks for world civilization, calculus, biology, psychology, English, and writing, all of which are now outdated due to numerous additions and revisions. Yet, God’s Word has not and will not change because it will endure forever (Isa. 40:8). Though education is immensely valuable, real wisdom comes through the timeless revelation of God rather than the books of men.
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Hope without obedience is dangerous
With the aforementioned lessons in mind, the necessary emphasis on obedience emerges. If I may borrow Solomon’s words directly, “fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person (Ecc. 12:13).” The idea is simply showing reverence for the Lord by how you live. While good works are not the source of our redemption, they are the evidence for it (James 2:20). Life change does not contradict salvation by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8-9); it demonstrates its reality (Eph. 2:10).
Reassuring ourselves of eternal salvation while simultaneously rejecting the straightforward commands and unmistakable priorities of Scripture is a recipe for eternal disaster. Because every good tree bears good fruit, Jesus not only emphasized knowing others by their fruits, but He also warned that many will falsely assume their entrance into His eternal kingdom (Matt. 7:17-21). Hoping in a salvation of our own making is dangerous because it just isn’t real.
So, let’s give attention to our Creator now, whether we be young or old. Let’s heed the words of Scripture now, measuring other resources against its timeless truths. And let’s prioritize obedience now, knowing that real faith manifests itself through demonstrable change.
This opinion piece was first published in The Jackson Post
Dr Adam B. Dooley is pastor of Englewood Baptist Church in Jackson, Tenn., and author of Hope When Life Unravels. Contact him at adooley@ebcjackson.org. Follow him on Twitter @AdamBDooley.
