Ecclesiastes Chapter 12 Verse 1

 Remember now your Creator… Best advice ever given for any

circumstance. Remember now your Creator. In the day of victory,

remember the Lord. James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every

perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights,

with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” So, when that

good thing happens, remember the Lord.

 In the day of trouble, remember the Lord. Jesus said in John 16:33,

“In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have

overcome the world.” In your day of righteous maturity, don’t fill your

mind with personal congratulations! Paul said in Romans 7:18,

remember, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good

dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good

I do not find.” So, on those good days, good Christian days, remember

the Lord.

 And in the day of defeat, remember the Lord. Paul said in 2 Timothy

2:1, “Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” Remember the

Lord, that the victory over sin is in Him, through Him, because of

Him, alone! Colossians 2:13-15, “And you, being dead in your

trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive

together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped

out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was

contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to

the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a

public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.”

 When hope is dim and tomorrow is unknown, remember the Lord who

brought eternal life out of a grave…

 To remember is to fill your mind again. The word in the Hebrew has

the implication of activity. Not like a thing that just happens or a

circumstance that just comes about but there is intention in it! This is

something not for us to consider but for us to do!

 And the word for Creator is actually presented in the plural which is a

call back for sure to the triune God but also a call to fill your mind

with ALL the things of God. All that He’s done. We forget so much,

so much of the great things God has done for us! Why is that? Why do

we remember so well the bad things that happen but forget so easily

the good…? Remember NOW your Creator… Best advice ever for

any circumstance!

Ecclesiastes Chapter 1 Verse 1

 Interesting statement by Solomon…, who no doubt lost many months

and years with his experiment of not withholding anything his flesh

desired. Going after the next relationship, the next project, the next

business deal, the next thing… And now, on the other side of living

that life, he is essentially saying, “I would do it all differently. I’d go

back, fill my mind with the Lord, remember the Lord, and the days I

have now, I’d have pleasure in them.”

 In finding a life with everything in it except for pleasure, he is well

qualified to tell us what’s missing. He’d trade it all in a moment for a

heart that’s right with the Lord. That is the only state of the human

heart where there is satisfaction and peace. And we don’t realize this,

because we chase pleasure all the time, when we ought to chase the

conditions for pleasure…, which are satisfaction and peace. If you

have those things, everything becomes pleasurable. If you don’t have

those things, nothing scratches the itch we’re looking for…

Ecclesiastes Chapter 12 Verse 2

 The thought here is that early in life things happen and don’t go our

way but we sense that we still have so much time, so much

opportunity, that days ahead will be better… But then we grow older

and that sense of a ton of time left starts to change and the expectation

of things being and getting better dims… Because we’ve lived so long

and things aren’t really getting better… Solomon says before you find

yourself there, remember the Lord NOW…

Ecclesiastes Chapter 12 Verse 3

 When folks still respect you… Amazing about integrity, character,

trust, honor and respect. It’s so powerful while it remains but can be

lost so easily… Almost like all of those things are fragile in some type

of way. Remembering the Lord will protect all of those things in a life.

Not just from others, getting those things from others, but yourself.

Show me a person who does not honor, trust and respect themselves

and I’ll show you someone in a state of panic…

 Oh, it doesn’t look like it on the outside… It looks like anger, easy-

come frustration, criticalness, negativity, addictions, sadness,

depression, outbursts and isolation… All of those things are symptoms

of internal panic because that person just simply doesn’t have any

respect for themselves. For the poor decisions they’ve made and the

darkness they have allowed in their story… Remember the Lord

before the enemy traps you into a private personal panic on the inside!

 And, if you’re there today…, REMEMBER the Lord! 1 John 1:9 says,

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins

and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” You may be born again

but perhaps you need your life to be born again AGAIN! And that’s

ok! Remember the Lord and His grace and His life-giving power!

 Mark 8:22-24, “Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind

man to Him, and begged Him to touch him. So He took the blind man

by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his

eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything. And

he looked up and said, “I see men like trees, walking.””

 There’s a problem with that. Men aren’t trees. Jesus touched this man

who was blind and indeed he could see, but something wasn’t

complete. What he saw was somehow not correct. So, check this out…

 Mark 8:25, “Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him

look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.” This man

needed two things. A second touch and to look up…, then he saw

clearly. Every one of us needs a second touch. A third. A fourth. In

fact, the MOST accomplished in their faith just find a way to keep

Jesus spitting on their eyes constantly!

 Takes some humility, takes some surrender, takes some breaking of the

ego and self-protective pride, and this is SO counter-intuitive…, but

those things are the things which lead to self-respect surging! And

integrity soaring. And depression fleeing… Peace and satisfaction

enter and pleasure in all things. Suddenly your words aren’t so

negative and your nature not so critical… Grace begins to shine

through you.

 What was the problem all along? Not them. It was never them! Not

how stupid everyone else is and how no one is as smart as you… The

problem the whole time was a deep seeded, deeply concealed lack of

self-respect, lack of self-honor… and it just got projected on everyone

else as a defense mechanism so others maybe wouldn’t see it…

Ecclesiastes Chapter 12 Verses 4 – 5

 The idea here is to remember the Lord as you age and when you wake

up and find yourself old, because that’s how it happens, ha! Things

hurt that you didn’t even know you had! You walk around with shoes

untied because it’s just too much to get down there and take care of

that! HA! (or you just get crocs!)

 And, big shift here for Solomon, almost subtle, notice he slips

something in here that is in direct contrast with his theme of “all is

vanity.” He says, remember the Lord, for man goes to his eternal

home…

 The word in the Hebrew means, “everlasting,” All is vanity when

considered on its own, because in the end its all lost and left to

another, but when considered in association and in the reality of

eternal life, it all flips on its head. Not only in importance,

significance and purpose but also in experience. This is the conclusion

Solomon has discovered and the reason for this book…

Ecclesiastes Chapter 12 Verses 6 – 12

 He’s trying he entire best to bring our attention to the most heightened

state possible by stating his condition of divine wisdom, that he has

really studied and thought this through to the point that he sees it more

clearly than anything else…

 His desire is to impart to his readers what is acceptable. The word is

“delight” in the Hebrew. Find this, discover this, receive this, and you

will find not only a life that satisfies but a heart that delights in the life

you have, no matter what you have… That’s why he says what he

has written is upright and words of truth…

 Like goads and well driven nails. Incline your heart to what is good

for you and it will drive you to good pasture and safety. That is what

the shepherd’s goad did… And what you build will not only

withstand, but it will be something even supernatural. The fingerprint

of God on it, the echo of the eternal in its design and features…

 You can study every book ever written and fill your head with all the

facts and knowledge of this world, but if you miss this, a life lived in

the acknowledgement of the Creator, you’ve missed everything…

Because in truth, you’ve amassed a ton of stuff that you’re just going

to lose one day… So, have you really even amassed anything?

Ecclesiastes Chapter 12 Verses 13 – 14

 Not the conclusion of the book, or the conclusion of the matter…, the

conclusion of the WHOLE matter. The WHOLE of a person. The

WHOLE of a heart. All that is needed and necessary for one to live

alive. For one to find purpose, success, satisfaction, peace and

personal prosperity. All that is needed to prepare for what comes after

this life…

 The word fear is “constant reverence…” Uninterrupted honor…

This is simply to know the Lord. Because if you know Him, you have

no other course than to worship Him for who He is…

 Keep His commandments. Yes, it means Exodus 20 but it is so so

much more than that. This phrase can also be translated and I like this

concept, walk within His code… He wrote the code. He is the

Programmer of life because He is the Originator of it. Life came from

Him and we search for it just like Solomon did… We search when it’s

only found in one place… In the presence of Jesus.

 God knows everything, all things about everything and He knows it all

perfectly. He will bring it all into judgment which means what God

has decreed about a thing will always happen. No matter the

manipulations of man or the schemes of darkness (whether flesh or

principalities). God will never be shown or proven wrong. The longer

it takes us to figure that out, the more life we just simply don’t

enjoy… And in a way, the more mess we make… And if we never

figure that out…, all is vanity.