Ecclesiastes 12:1 Remember now your 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”: [2] While the sun and the light, the moon and the stars, are not darkened, and the clouds do not return after the rain; [3] In the days when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men bow down; when the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look through the windows grow dim; [4] when the doors are shut in the streets, and the sound of grinding is low; when one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of music are brought low. [5] Also they are afraid of height, and of terrors in the way; when the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper is a burden, and desire fails. For man goes to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets.
Chapter 12 begins with a volley against aging. Or old age, to be more precise. The passage in question begins with the sagely counsel to remember your Creator while you are still young. The notion here goes beyond mere mental assent that God exists, like we forgot about Him. The preacher’s remembrance is a willing acknowledgement of God’s person and purpose in a believer’s life; He is the cornerstone upon which we build our faith, and from our faith our life’s works spring.
