Introduction
Are you living today in a way that you will thank God for when you’re old, and even more, when you stand before Him in judgment? The central teaching of Ecclesiastes’ closing words is this: because your life is brief and God will judge every deed, you must remember your Creator now, fear God, and keep His commandments as your whole duty.
Ecclesiastes ends the way it has spoken all along, honest about life “under the sun,” sometimes even surprising in tone. It calls you to enjoy God’s gifts, and it sobers you with the certainty of death. Then it lands the plane with crystal clarity: this is what life is for.
Main Points
Are you living today in a way that you will thank God for when you’re old, and even more, when you stand before Him in judgment? The central teaching of Ecclesiastes’ closing words is this: because your life is brief and God will judge every deed, you must remember your Creator now, fear God, and keep His commandments as your whole duty.
Ecclesiastes ends the way it has spoken all along, honest about life “under the sun,” sometimes even surprising in tone. It calls you to enjoy God’s gifts, and it sobers you with the certainty of death. Then it lands the plane with crystal clarity: this is what life is for.
Rejoice In Youth, Remember Your Creator
The Preacher speaks directly: “Rejoice, O young man, in your youth…walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes” (Eccl. 11:9). But that joy is never detached from reality: “know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment” (11:9). So he presses the main command: “Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth” (12:1).
I want you to notice the discipleship wisdom here: God is not against joy. He is against joy that forgets Him. The world tells you youth is king, protect it, worship it, center your life on it. Ecclesiastes tells you something more loving and more true: youth is temporary, and you can’t rewind your life. So I’m urging you, don’t just “have experiences.” Build a life that is centered on God while your habits are still forming.
And if you’re not young anymore, hear this: the message is still hopeful. You can still repent, re-center, and redeem the time you have. The call to remember your Creator is not only for teenagers, it is for every living soul.
Let Mortality Make You Wise
Ecclesiastes 12:1–8 is a poetic cascade of images, euphemisms for aging and death. The body weakens, senses dim, strength bends, desire fades, and eventually “the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it” (12:7). Then the familiar refrain returns: “Vanity of vanities…all is vanity” (12:8).
This is not meant to crush you with despair; it is meant to wake you up. In discipleship, I want you to learn to do what Ecclesiastes teaches: reverse-engineer your life from the end. If you remember where your story is headed, old age, death, and then God, you’ll stop living for what can’t last. You’ll stop treating temporary things as ultimate things.
When you accept mortality, you gain clarity: your work, pleasures, achievements, and even your wisdom cannot bear the weight of meaning by themselves. Only God can.
Receive The Goads And Nails Of Scripture
In 12:9, the voice shifts to a narrator who reflects on the Preacher’s ministry: he taught knowledge, weighed and arranged proverbs carefully, and wrote “words of truth” (12:10). Then comes a vivid description of biblical wisdom:
- “The words of the wise are like goads” (12:11), they poke you when you drift, they prod you back toward the path.
- They are “like nails fixed firmly” (12:11), not shaky or “wonky,” but secure and reliable.
- And these sayings are “given by one Shepherd” (12:11), ultimately from God, not merely human opinion.
Here is the practical application I want you to embrace: let God’s Word correct you. A goad is not comfortable; it’s merciful. When Ecclesiastes exposes the emptiness of living for pleasure, productivity, or human wisdom, it’s not mocking you, it’s steering you. And when it feels like everything else is unstable, Scripture is the floor that doesn’t shift beneath your feet.
Jesus taught the same principle: hearing His words and doing them makes you like a wise man building on rock, storms come, but the house stands (Matt. 7:24–25).
Refuse Endless Alternatives, Return To The Shepherd
The narrator warns: “Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh” (12:12). That’s not anti-learning. It’s anti-salvation-by-research.
You can search “high and low” for a philosophy that makes life work. You can consume endless content. But Ecclesiastes insists that the deepest questions of meaning have been addressed: the Preacher has done it all, pleasure, wealth, achievement, relationships, projects, and reputation, and his conclusion is not complicated.
So I’m going to disciple you into a humble posture here: stop pretending you can outthink the human condition. Learn from the vicarious wisdom God has provided. Come back to the Shepherd’s words. Receive the limits of “under the sun” life, and let that drive you upward to God.
Fear God And Keep His Commandments
Now we reach the purpose statement, the final landing:
“The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil” (Eccl. 12:13–14).
This is the whole duty, not the whole hobby, not a weekend add-on, not a private spirituality. The whole duty.
And you might think, Is it really that simple after all this complexity? Yes. Not simplistic, simple. Like Jesus’ final commissioning words are simple and weighty, so Solomon’s final words are simple and weighty. They gather all the winding roads of Ecclesiastes into one clear path.
The Preacher ties this to a doctrine we must not dodge: judgment. God sees “every secret thing.” So fearing God includes real moral seriousness.
And the book of Proverbs echoes this: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge” (Prov. 1:7) and the beginning of wisdom (cf. Prov. 9:10). If you want to truly live wisely, you start not with self-confidence but with God-reverence.
Run To God, Not Away
What does it mean to “fear God”? It is not the panic of a child terrified of a capricious deity. Scripture teaches that tormenting fear is cast out by perfect love (cf. 1 John 4:18). Yet Ecclesiastes is also not describing a casual, flippant approach to God.
Biblical fear includes two realities held together:
- Reverent regard: God is so weighty, so holy, so central, that you bring Him into everything, worship, work, relationships, decisions. You “regard” Him (cf. Eccl. 5’s call to draw near thoughtfully in worship).
- A real dread of His greatness: like standing near a sheer cliff, beautiful, awe-inspiring, and not something you treat carelessly. His holiness is not safe to trivialize.
A helpful summary is this: God is so powerful, holy, and awesome that you would not dare run away from Him, only run to Him. Ecclesiastes’ answer to chaos is not independence; it is communion. “Remember your Creator” is not merely “think about God sometimes.” It is: return to Him as your center.
Conclusion
Ecclesiastes ends by telling you the truth you need most: your youth will pass, your body will fail, your achievements cannot hold meaning forever, and your life will be examined by God. Therefore, don’t waste your days chasing wind. Remember your Creator now. Receive God’s Word as firm and steady. Refuse endless substitutes. Fear God and keep His commandments, because that is what you were made for.
If you will live this way, you won’t have a perfect life under the sun, but you will have a wise one, anchored to the Shepherd who speaks truth.
Father, You are our Creator and our Shepherd. Teach us to remember You in the days of our youth and in every season of life. Forgive us for the ways we have chased meaning apart from You. Give us hearts that fear You rightly, not running away from You, but running to You with reverence, trust, and obedience. Nail Your Word firmly into our lives, and use it to prod us back to the path when we wander. Prepare us to live with joy and seriousness, knowing that You will bring every deed into judgment. Help us to fear You and keep Your commandments as our whole duty. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Conclusion
Ecclesiastes ends by telling you the truth you need most: your youth will pass, your body will fail, your achievements cannot hold meaning forever, and your life will be examined by God. Therefore, don’t waste your days chasing wind. Remember your Creator now. Receive God’s Word as firm and steady. Refuse endless substitutes. Fear God and keep His commandments, because that is what you were made for.
If you will live this way, you won’t have a perfect life under the sun, but you will have a wise one, anchored to the Shepherd who speaks truth.
Closing Prayer
Father, You are our Creator and our Shepherd. Teach us to remember You in the days of our youth and in every season of life. Forgive us for the ways we have chased meaning apart from You. Give us hearts that fear You rightly, not running away from You, but running to You with reverence, trust, and obedience. Nail Your Word firmly into our lives, and use it to prod us back to the path when we wander. Prepare us to live with joy and seriousness, knowing that You will bring every deed into judgment. Help us to fear You and keep Your commandments as our whole duty. In Jesus’ name, amen.