"Remember Him Before..."

Scripture Passage

Ecclesiastes 11:7-12:14; 1 Kings 12:1-20; 2 Chronicles 10:1-19; 1 Kings 12:21-24; 2 Chronicles 11:1-4; 1 Kings 12:25-33; 2 Chronicles 11:5-17

Scripture Focus

“Remember him before…” (Ecclesiastes 12:2,3,4,5 NLT)

Observation

I’m really torn, this morning. I read one of my favorite Biblical quotes today—1 Kings 12:10—where Rehoboam says, “My little finger is thicker than my father’s waist!” I love to quote that anyplace I can squeeze it half-way sensibly into a conversation and see if anyone recognizes it (or understands it)!

And I’m amazed at Rehoboam’s foolishness in ignoring his older advisors and listening to those younger, but his equal willingness to listen to the man of God, Shemaiah, when counseled not to go to war against his brothers. Maybe in this case, it’s what he wanted to do anyway, and God’s instructions became a good excuse to back down!

And—of course—historically (and spiritually) for Israel, not much is more significant than the division of the nation into two nations—Israel in the north (now under Jeroboam), and Judah in the south (under Rehoboam). That disruption in the kingdom shapes everything about those nations for the rest of their history. The placement of the calf idols in Bethel and in Dan is particularly noteworthy.

But I’ve got to finish Ecclesiastes! Ecclesiastes is all about the ultimate futility of life—even the best parts of life—if God is neglected along the way. So the closing verses resonate with a call to “remember”—ten times in nine verses! Seven times in six verses, it’s the phrase “remember Him before…” (or it’s equivalent, in 12:6).

So many people are looking…waiting…expecting a more convenient time to work God into the schedule and priorities of their lives, but the counsel of Solomon is clear—“Remember Him before…”! And Solomon’s wisdom bears out in all I’ve seen in my (few) years. The truth is, I’ve never talked with a retiree who didn’t claim to be as busy after retirement as they were before—so it’s not like in “old age” anyone’s found any more time for God than they made for God beforehand. And I’ve never seen anyone do it—I cannot think of a single example I personally know of where someone ignored God all their life and suddenly found time (and motivation) to serve Him wholeheartedly in their waning years.

So I echo Solomon’s counsel—don’t fool yourself. “Remember Him before…”