Monday Memo 1170: A Gift From God

When I was young(er), I read Ecclesiastes but it didn't make much sense to me. It seemed that the writer was a bitter old man who was disillusioned with life, love, and the Lord. For example, he wrote,

God has laid a miserable fate upon us. I have seen everything done in this world, and I tell you, it is all useless. It is like chasing the wind. You can't straighten out what is crooked; you can't count things that aren't there. I told myself, “I have become a great man, far wiser than anyone who ruled Jerusalem before me. I know what wisdom and knowledge really are.” I was determined to learn the difference between knowledge and foolishness, wisdom and madness. But I found out that I might as well be chasing the wind. The wiser you are, the more worries you have; the more you know, the more it hurts (Ecclesiastes 1:13-18, GNT).

Now that I'm old(er), I read the same book and it makes more sense. The writer, probably Solomon, had experienced most of what being the king had to offer: fame, fortune, and the finer things of life. However, he came to the conclusion that it was all meaningless, vanity according to one translation. And then he ended his book with this rather depressing summary of old age:

So remember your Creator while you are still young, before those dismal days and years come when you will say, “I don't enjoy life.” That is when the light of the sun, the moon, and the stars will grow dim for you, and the rain clouds will never pass away. Then your arms, that have protected you, will tremble, and your legs, now strong, will grow weak. Your teeth will be too few to chew your food, and your eyes too dim to see clearly. Your ears will be deaf to the noise of the street. You will barely be able to hear the mill as it grinds or music as it plays, but even the song of a bird will wake you from sleep. You will be afraid of high places, and walking will be dangerous. Your hair will turn white; you will hardly be able to drag yourself along, and all desire will be gone (Ecclesiastes 12:1-5, GNT).

But typical to this wisdom writer's style, buried in his lament on the futility of life, he gave us the answer to happiness and fulfillment. In the above passage, he advised, "So remember your Creator while you are still young" and then earlier in the book he wrote,

This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot. Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God. They seldom reflect on the days of their life, because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart (Ecclesiastes 5:18-20, emphasis added).

So the key to a happy old age is to enjoy the Lord while you are young and do meaningful, purposeful while you can, remembering that life is short. Older folks always told me that my senior years would be here before I knew it—and they were right. Now I encourage you to make the most of the days you have, for they truly are a gift from God, and all of us are closer to our end today than we were yesterday, which is what Solomon was trying to tell us all along. Have a blessed week.