Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come…(Eccl. 12:1)
A call to young people to think of God, and mind their duty to him, when they are young. Matthew Henry states “Begin in the beginning of thy days to remember him from whom thou hadst thy being, and go on according to that good beginning. Call him to mind when thou art young, and keep him in mind throughout all the days of thy youth, and never forget him. Guard thus against the temptations of youth, and thus improve the advantages of it.”
“Remember your creator” can mean many different things. It could be by praying, by thinking, by speech, by service, or by work. A wise person will always remember God first. Lift up your heart at all times and say to Him, “I thank you Lord for these blessings and graces that you have given me.” To “remember” also means that you see that it is God’s Hand that is working with you, for God is the One who supports you throughout all your endeavors.
“The days of your youth,” can be some of the best days of your life, and it is not so much about a specific age, but it is a state that a person can experience during any stage in their life, which is characterized by energy, vitality, freedom, and dreams. It is essential for us to remember our Lord in our youth, before we get old and “days of trouble come.” The days of trouble mean the days when a person becomes too busy or when a person is too worried, too ill, or lacks physical energy.
We live in an age of rapidly growing technology and due to the abundance of devices we have and the means of modernity, a person forgets that they are human, and a creation of the Hand of God. We must always remember our Creator and His strong hand that supports us, and that we are human and we are here to serve the rest of humanity. The more loyal of a person you become and the more you remember your Creator, the more the Lord will glorify Himself with you and bless all your efforts.
– Summary and Excerpts from a sermon by Pope Tawadros II, his prayers be with us, and from Matthew Henry’s Commentary on Ecclesiastes 12.
Chrism 