The Preacher in the book of Ecclesiastes enjoined us to remember our creator (Ecc 12: 1). He is calling our attention to develop the relationship that is fundamental to our existence if we want to create meaning.
“Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, before the difficult days come, and the years draw near when you say, “I have no pleasure in them””
Ecclesiastes 12: 1
What does it mean to remember?
It means to keep something at the forefront of your mind so that you don’t forget it.
It means to keep an active memory of something or someone.
It also means to commit to memory.
Remembering something is a very active way to live. Remembering your creator is a way of keeping God at the center of your life. It means you should never forget God’s impact on your life.
Remembering someone is also a way of honoring that person. You do everything possible with the way you live to keep their memory alive and not allow it to die. So, remembering is what we do on purpose for a purpose.
On the other hand, we have to remember that not everything is worth remembering. There are some things that you rather forget because of the pain they cause you.
The Preacher also tells us that when to remember is as important as what to remember. He was saying that the earlier we remember our creator the better for us because that will help us not to waste our life. it will dictate what we give our lives to. It will help define how we spend our childhood and adulthood. It will help us to get our priorities right and align early with our purpose. It will help us to answer the call of destiny before we get messed up and entangled with meaningless activity.
The preacher is telling us that if we don’t remember our creator at the onset of our lives, there is a tendency to make a mess of everything, get derailed, distracted, and sight tracked by other things.
The preacher is telling us that if we don’t remember our creator at the onset of our lives, there is a tendency to make a mess of everything, get derailed, distracted, and sight tracked by other things. The preacher is calling us to a paradigm shift from self-centeredness to God-centeredness, from focusing on self to others.
Remembering God will also help you to lay the right foundation for your life. It will help you to make decisions that are based on values and strong character and ultimately the glory of God.
Remembering your creator will also help you mitigate against regrets. And will help you live a life that is based on divine guidance. It will also help you be mindful of what you do daily. Please understand that life is time sensitive.
It will help you to be spiritually minded and conscious of what really matters most to your creator. In other words, it will help you with your spiritual formation which can help shape your belief system and ultimately your entire life.
Here are some implications of that statement:
- There is a creator: Please understand that there is a creator who made everything by Himself and for Himself. God created everything including you. A creator owns His creation. The creation is the idea of the creator. The Creator created everything for His glory, purpose, and pleasure. The Creator created everything according to His will. The creator loves everything He created and has a reason for it. Nothing was created by accident.
He was saying that the earlier we remember our creator the better for us because that will help us not to waste our life.
The creator also created everything to depend on Him and be interdependent on others. The good news is that God is your creator. He created and recreated you in Christ Jesus for good works.
2. You are a creation: Before you get over your head, you must remember that you are a created being. You did not create yourself. Someone made you and made you for a purpose that was very clear to Him before you even existed in your mother’s womb. All your whole life has been planned out before you step into the world (Ps 139: 16).
3. God created you: Some people get confused because they do not know their creator. I am glad to let you know that God is your creator. He made you in His image and likeness. He formed you and put Himself in you. He breathed into you His very essence and life. Even after the devil has messed you up, He recreated you in Christ Jesus. As a born-again child of God, you have been recreated. You are now a new creation in Christ Jesus. Your old nature is inconsequential to what God wants to do in you, through you, and despite what has happened to you.
The good news is that God is your creator. He created and recreated you in Christ Jesus for good works.
4. God created you for something: Now it is getting better, in case you do not know, you were created for something. The Bible calls that good works that have been created before the foundation of the world (Eph 2: 10). Before your parents came together or before He put you together in your mother’s womb, before your parents get to see or know you, before you get to know yourself or before anyone has or forms an opinion about you, before you experience any form of crisis. Before anything or anyone, God has something in store for you that will bring about His greatness and glory. Whatever God has created you for is what He wants you to be passionate about and invests all your time, energy, interest, sweat, resources, strength to purpose relentlessly.
5. Purpose is discovered: You must remember that the your purpose was determined before the foundation of the world but it is your responsibility to discover it. But you cannot and will not do that in the absence of your community. Your purpose is discovered in the path of service. Discovery is about uncovering you and unleashing your passion. What do you enjoy doing? What is tugging on your heart? What is your heart gravitating towards? What makes you come alive? What can’t you stand? What are people around you asking you to do for them
6. Living for your purpose is a way to find meaning and fulfillment: There is no better way to find meaning in life than to live for the glory of the Lord and what He created you for. Remember, purposeless life is a meaningless life.
7. Living your purpose helps you to live in alignment with life: To live in alignment is to live in the right. Your life is meant to unfold in a certain way. It should not be complicated and complex. When you understand the path of purpose you will not be entangled with things that want to enslave you. To be aligned is to arrange something in the correct position, or to be in the correct position, concerning something else.
8. Your purpose will attract destiny helpers: When you walk in the path of purpose, you will attract some people whom God has planted there to be an encouragement to you and those who are there for you to encourage. Those who will provoke you to good works and those you too will provoke to good works as well. You will meet a lot of people that life will bring your way to help harmonize you and become your support system. Those who will stand by you through thick and thin. You will miss these people if you are traveling on the right path.
9. Your purpose will attract distractors: In this same vein, your purpose will attract criticism. It is a natural part. Remember every time you want to make a mark you will definitely attract erasers. Not everyone is good for you.
10. Your purpose protects: There is nothing that will give you a sense of security, safety, and stability than when you walk in your purpose. It will protect you from yourself, from other people’s opinions especially those people who think they make you. So, to remember your creator is to remember that you have a place of safety in God.
to remember your creator is to remember that you have a place of safety in God.
11. Your purpose gives you a sense of responsibility: Purpose is spelled responsibility. There is something you are responsible for. Something that God your creator has put in your charge. Something He will require you to give an account at the end. How you pursue your purpose will determine the kind of account you will give at the end. God will require you to give an account of everything you have done including the ones He assigned you to do and the ones you did without His directives or permission. This is one of the reasons you want to walk in the path of purpose so that you do not do what He did not ask you to do.
12. Purpose gives you identity: Your purpose is what your uniqueness count. It separates you from others and help you to find the place where you can learn to work with others. You are not another person. You are unique in your own right. So, learn to celebrate your uniqueness so that you can be able to appreciate your existence. When you understand how your creator has made you different from others, it will help you to find where you belong where you can contribute not compete with others. It will help you to also learn how you can allow others to contribute and complement your efforts.
