Redeeming the Time

“Rejoice, O young man, in your youth,
And let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth;
Walk in the ways of your heart,
And in the sight of your eyes;
But know that for all these God will bring you into judgment.
Therefore remove sorrow from your heart,
And put away evil from your flesh,
For childhood and youth are vanity.”
Ecclesiastes 11:9-10

“Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth,
Before the difficult days come,
And the years draw new when you say,
“I have no pleasure in them”:
While the sun and the light,
The moon and the stars,
Are not darkened,
And the clouds do not return after the rain;”
Ecclesiastes 12:1-2

“Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed,
Or the golden bowl is broken,
Or the pitcher shattered at the fountain,
Or the wheel broken at the well.
Then the dust will return to the earth as it was,
And the spirit will return to God who gave it.”
Ecclesiastes 12:6-7

It is the wisdom of God speaking to the futile soul to say that we must rejoice in our youth and remember our Creator before the difficult days come. Each justified sinner is allotted a certain number of days to glorify the Lord of the Universe and serve each day as if it were the last to breathe (Psalm 90:10). It is not as if the wisdom of man plays a certain role in determining the wisdom of God. In fact, the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men (1 Corinthians 1:25). The All-knowing, Eternal Creator is not limited at all in wisdom as we are utterly limited in our own wisdom and mortality. That is why the “foolishness” and “weakness” of God is no foolishness or weakness at all but simply transcends man in His very being as the Sovereign and Omnipotent Creator.

The responsibility of man is recognizing the weakness of our flesh and the true vanity of anything to do with it; the higher the propensity to discern our own evil, the greater the recognition and fear of God in His righteous judgment of sin. The true lack of the wisdom of man is seen in the foolishness of his own iniquity and folly that comes as natural as breathing, yet causes death. We must not live for a moment as if the flesh is eternal, but “die daily,” knowing the flesh will die and then the judgment according to our deeds. May we have a heightened ever-present sense of that reality and a character of the Psalmist, who writes:

“Remember how short my time is;
For what futility have You created all the children of men?
What man can live and not see death?
Can he deliver his life from the power of the grave?”
Psalm 89:47-48

The time of youth is a precious vapor that vanishes as quickly as it arrives, just as all flesh. Therefore, the optimal season, in which the harvest is ripe and the fruit is abundant to produce more is when one is young, spiritually vigorous in anticipation. Day by day, year by year, the energy is lessening as judgment is arriving. Drawing ever so closely to the Savior, even while young, we must remember how infinitesimal our time on earth truly is in light of the eternal realm. Seize each moment to speak the truth in love. Endeavor on a studious approach to His word and partake in the divine knowledge. Pray for someone you have never prayed for. Feed the hungry and clothe the naked. Display the Glory of Christ in your actions. Perhaps most importantly, use the ordained means of conversion by preaching the words of eternal life that brings life to a dead soul.

“Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matthew 10:27-28

The clock is ticking…