# 23 2024 Dev. Ecc 12:11,12. Remembering God’s Grace! Read all of chapter twelve first. We invite you into God’s space, to read His Word, to think on and interact with. This is God’s Story. Do you believe that this may also be part of our story, in our time? All passages are taken from the NIV.
Ecc.12:11-12 “The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails—given by one shepherd.[b] Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them.”
Ecc. 12 Ecclesiastes is a difficult book and there are different ways to deal with it. One way is to look at the plain meaning of the text. Often the material is a foil to what is good and to what is meaningful. The “Teacher” says: continuing from chapter 11, “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth…” Remember your creator before you are old and incapacitated. “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of mankind.”
Vs.1-5 The teacher tells us to remember, while we still can and while we are young, and at the time we are vulnerable, remember Him! How easy it is to depend on our own strength, on the optimism of youth. How easy it is to follow a dangerous path. Remembering means to know God’s precepts and expectations, to experience His grace, His love, His forgiveness and to remember His call on our lives as followers of Jesus. We are old before we realize and before most of us will admit it. The Teacher here describes getting old in graphic terms. Think of the days of Solomon, and also some Third World countries today, how difficult and discouraging it is for those who need medical help, both physical and mental and spiritual. We need to count our blessings today.
Vs.6-8 “Remember your Creator…” before things go bad, before your strength is depleted, before your health is broken and before “the spirit returns to God who gave it.”
Vs.9-11 The Teacher has shared His wisdom and His knowledge, “what he wrote was upright and true. The words of the wise” inspire, instruct and set parameters. “Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them.” There is no end of information in this world, today. We are overwhelmed with it! Who is able to discern the lie, the half lie from the truth, the right from wrong? There is only one way, weigh what you hear and what you think you know by God’s Word, by Jesus’ example, and by the whispers of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. The teacher says:
Vs.13-14 “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind.
For God will bring every deed into judgment including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.”
We are judged by what we believe, what we believe is what we do, how we live, how we act, what we say and how we serve God. Amen!
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