Remember Early

Transcript

Hello, my friend… so glad you're with me today. This is By God's Call — day 217, Remember Early.

"Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, 'I have no pleasure in them';" Ecclesiastes 12:1.

This verse arrives after an entire book of searching. Solomon has already tried everything — pleasure, wealth, grand projects, wisdom, hard work — and concluded, again and again, that all of it, alone, is vapor slipping through the hand. And now, at the end of the book, he finally says the most personal thing of all: remember your Creator. And notice carefully when he asks this to happen — in the days of your youth.

Not 'whenever you find the time.' Not 'once life calms down.' In the days of youth — which here isn't only about age, it's about vigor, energy, available time, a heart still flexible. However many years you have today, there is always a 'now' younger than tomorrow. And it's in that now that Solomon asks you to remember.

Why the urgency? Because he says it himself: before the evil days come. Solomon doesn't promise an easy life. He's honest — aging hurts, the body weakens, losses pile up, and there are years when you'll look around and say, honestly, I find no pleasure in this. That's real. The Bible doesn't hide that part of life behind cheap optimism.

But notice the wisdom behind the counsel: whoever has already remembered the Creator before those hard seasons arrive faces those very seasons with an anchor. Not an anchor that removes the pain — but one that holds the soul steady in the middle of the storm. Remembering God early doesn't prevent suffering; it prepares the heart to walk through it without getting lost.

And here's something important: remembering isn't merely knowing God exists. Anyone can know that, one way or another. Remembering is living today, actively, in light of who He is and what He has already done for you. It's bringing God into today's decisions, today's conversations, today's small choices — not leaving Him tucked away in a drawer to be pulled out only when the crisis hits.

So I want to ask you: what season of life are you in right now? Are you young in energy, even if not young in years? Are you already sensing the first signs of the hard days arriving? Whatever your answer, today's invitation is the same: remember your Creator now, while the heart still has flexibility, while there is still time to build the habit.

Tonight, before you sleep, I want to invite you to do something simple. Say one sentence of gratitude to your Creator out loud — it doesn't need to be long. Name something concrete He has done in you during this specific season of your life. Not generic gratitude. Named, specific, real gratitude.

Stay close to God. Pray — then act. I'll see you tomorrow, my friend.