We are coming to the end of our series called Don’t Waste Your Life as the book of Ecclesiastes explores what is the gain and advantage for all your effort in this world. We are now coming to the concluding wisdom for life in the final chapters of the book. In Ecclesiastes 10 the teacher offers more wisdom about how to not live foolishly (Ecclesiastes 10:1-11) and how to not speak foolishly (Ecclesiastes 10:12-15). The wise teachings continue into chapter 11, exemplifying foolish living and giving directions for wisdom. But now we come to the bottom line in Ecclesiastes 11-12. We will look at the first three conclusions in this week’s lesson and, Lord willing, we will look at the final four conclusions in next week’s lesson. Open your copies of God’s word to Ecclesiastes 11 and we will begin our study in verses 7-9.
Rejoice (Ecclesiastes 11:7-9)
So what is the teacher’s first conclusion after describing that life is seasons and circles and full of frustration and emptiness? The teacher tells us to rejoice in life. In Ecclesiastes 11:7 he says that light is sweet and it is good to see the sun. It is good to be alive. Every day that our eyes open and we are able to see the sun is a gift of God that should never be presumed or taken for granted. Life is good. Enjoy life. In verse 8 the teacher says that if you are given many years of life, then be glad for them. Life is fragile. Life is fleeting. We are not invincible and all of us will have the days of darkness. In one sense there is a reminder that every person is on the clock as soon as they are born. Enjoy every day of light because no one knows when the day of darkness will come. No one is guaranteed any amount of time.
Further, he says to remember that there will be many days of darkness. After exploring life and seeing the difficulties and frustrations of life, the teacher does not give up on life. Rather the teacher wants us to go through life with our eyes open. Your life is a gift. Be glad you are seeing the sun today. But know that there are many days of darkness when God grants you a long life. God did not promise us a life of ease and comfort. Rather, we are being promised that there will be many of days of darkness over the span of your life.
Therefore, enjoy your life. Enjoy your youth. Make the decision to seek pleasure. But you will notice in verse 9 that the teacher does not say that you ought to seek pleasure in this life without regard for God. Instead, we are to enjoy life and seek pleasure but know that everything you do God will bring into judgment. Do not seek pleasure in ways that will bring you into judgment. God is not a cosmic killjoy who does not want his creation to have any pleasure. As parents, we want our children to have joy and experience life. But we want them to do so in a way that will not harm them. God’s laws are to keep us from the pains of sin and troubles of foolish living. God is the place to fulfill your joy (cf. Psalm 16:11). Go enjoy the seasons of your life while you can. How many times have you been able to do something in your life and now you are glad you did it because it would not be possible to do those things now? Maybe you moved or maybe you don’t have the money or maybe something changed in your life or changed in your relationships that you can’t do those things now. But you are so glad you did those things when you did. But your greatest pursuit of joy is not in trying to have fun in this life. Your greatest pursuit of joy will be to seek the Lord with all your might. Do not waste your life on the pursuits of this world that simply cannot satisfy. Wake up each day and enjoy the simple pleasures that God has given to you in your life.
Remove (Ecclesiastes 11:10)
The teacher then tells us to remove vexation and pain from your life in verse 10. The Hebrew word translated by the ESV as “vexation” has a wide semantic range which you will see if you consult other translations for this verse. It can mean vexation, anxiety, sorrow, worry, frustration, stress, grief, and anger. The teacher is not telling us that life is not painful and frustrating. He has spent much of the book showing us how empty and exhausting life can be. But he is telling us to push through these times because life is short. Move on from the sorrow and anxiety because you do not have the time to waste staying focused on the pain, worry, and heartache.
I think back at my life and when I was at the end of high school and when I was in college as I was grappling with some of the childhood pains in my life. I had a lot of vexation, frustration, grief, and anger that I was dealing with and trying to figure out. I will say that I did need to go through that. But I will also say that those are days that were wasted when I could have been enjoying the good things that were going on around me. I chose to be focused on my hurt rather than choosing to be focused who I was around and what I had going on in my life. I think this is the point the teacher is making to us. You can waste your life upset about how bad everything has gone in your life. You can focus on the anxiety, frustration, grief, anger, worry, sorrow, and more. You can give your time, your emotions, and your thinking to those things. But you are wasting the time of your life. You can’t change anything that is in the past. You cannot alter a single thing that happened to you. You cannot go back and undo or redo anything in your life. Yes, life is hard. Yes, life is frustrating. Yes, life has sorrow and hurt. Yes, we will be confronted with stress and anxiety. But do not waste today because you are focused on yesterday. The teacher is not downplaying one drop of pain you have. The teacher is telling you that being swallowed up by your sorrow, worry, frustration, grief, and anger is not doing you any good and is wasting the time God has given you to enjoy life.
Remember (Ecclesiastes 12:1-8)
The third direction for not wasting our lives is to remember your Creator early in life (Ecclesiastes 12:1). Remember God while you are young. Seek God early in life. Pursue God as early as you can. Why? Why is it so important to seek God as soon as you can in your life? Why is it critical to follow God as early as you can? The answer is simple in verse 1. You need to seek God early in life because life is going to be hard. Seek God early in your life because life can become unpleasant and you will not be able to enjoy life the way you used to. I don’t know if you have thought about this. How does the playful, fun-filled child with no care at all turn into the grumpy old man who is yelling at the playful, fun-filled child to get off his lawn? What happened to that person? The teacher tells us what happened to that person. Life happened to that person. Days of adversity and trouble came and now he does not find pleasure in life anymore.
Verses 2-8 describe the progress of life. Verses 2-8 use a variety of metaphors to describe aging. In verse 2 the metaphor begins by saying that our time is coming for each of us. The storm clouds of old age are building in the distance and will certainly come as we make our way to the dust of the earth. Seek the Lord before your hands and legs starts to tremble and your back begins to be hunched over (Ecclesiastes 12:3). Seek the Lord before your teeth begin to wear out and you need to have dentures (12:3). Seek God while you are able to see well (12:3). There will be a time when you will be turning on the flashlight in the restaurant, blinding all the other tables around you. In verse 4 the teacher notes to seek God before you come to the time when you cannot work anymore. Your physical strength that you relied upon for so long in your life will fail you. Seek God before the slightest sound will wake you up in the morning. You used to sleep in until noon as a teenager and now sleeping in means you made it past 6am. Further in verse 4, remember the Lord while you have your hearing because soon the songs will sound low and soft to you. In verse 5 we need to remember the Creator before you are too afraid to do things in life. When you are young, you laugh at danger. Then you get older and see danger everywhere. Seek God before the almond tree blossoms, which is a reference to your hair turning gray. Seek God before you lose your energy to do things, like a grasshopper dragging itself along. You have lost the spring in your step. Seek God before your sexual desire fades. Remember God before you are approaching the time to go to your grave. In verses 6-7 we are told to remember God before your life is gone.
God wants us to think about the fleeting nature of our lives and recognize what is coming for all of us so that we will remember our Creator as soon as possible. Remember does not mean to have a mental awareness of God. Rather, remembering our Creator means we will fully devote our lives to him before it is too late. Remember God in everything you do. Remember God before you lose your enthusiasm and desire for life. Remember God before life sours you. Remember God so that life does not make you the very person no one wants to turn into when you are young. Remembering your Creator is the only way to keep life from souring you into the grumpy old person because you will have the right outlook on life. You will know to rejoice because God has given you another day. You will remove vexation, frustration, sorrow, and stress from your hearts because you know that life is fleeting and being consumed by those things does not move us toward God and his righteousness. Remember God before you make a bunch of bad decisions in your life that you will regret later. Remember God while you have time to enjoy the benefits of a godly life. Remember God while you can enjoy what life has to offer. Remember God while you can still respond to his loving and gracious call to follow him.
The Bottom Line
Look again at Ecclesiastes 12:7 carefully. We need to remember God before we return to the dust of the earth as this physical body decays away. But look at the end of verse 7. Remember God before your spirit returns to God who gave it. When your physical body gives way, it is not the end of your story. It is actually the beginning of your story as your spirit will return to the Creator. What is going to happen when your spirit returns to God who made it and gave it?
God has given you this life and eventually you will return to the Creator who gave you your life. What will the Creator see in your life? When your spirit returns to the One who gave it, what will be the picture of your life? Will your life show that you enjoyed the life God gave to you, grateful to him for every day? Will your life show that even through the vexation, grief, frustration, and stress you removed them from your heart, understanding that God was at work in you and moving you toward him? Will your life show that you remembered God so that you could take pleasure in the days he gave you before your spirit returned to him? What did you do with your life? Did you waste the days given to you? Or did your rejoice, remove, and remember?