• Read Ecclesiastes 12

🌅MORNING— When the House Begins to Lean

• Focal Passage: Ecclesiastes 12:1

“Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near when you will say, “I have no delight in them”

Scholar Derek Kidner compared the three wisdom books to houses:

• Proverbs — a seven-pillared house of wisdom.
• Job — a wrecked house struck by the wind.
• Ecclesiastes — a great house in the grip of decay.

Ecclesiastes 12 is that decaying house.

“The keepers of the house tremble” — arms and legs weaken.
“The strong men stoop” — knees buckle, though the belt may not.
“The grinders cease” — teeth grow few.
“Those who look through the windows grow dim” — eyesight fades.
“The doors are shut” — hearing diminishes.
“The almond tree blossoms” — hair turns white.
“The grasshopper drags himself along” — energy fades.
“Desire is no longer stirred” — appetites decline.

It is poetic. It is honest. It is sobering.

Then come the images of death:
The silver cord severed.
The golden bowl broken.
The pitcher shattered.
The wheel broken at the well.
Dust returning to dust.
Spirit returning to God.

The house eventually collapses.

So what do we do when our house begins to lean?

Solomon says twice: Remember Him.
Remember Him in youth.
Remember Him before death.

Evelyn Brand was called to India in 1909. She and her husband labored for years without a convert. After thirteen fruitful years, her husband died. At fifty, most expected her to return home. She refused.

She stayed.
At seventy, the mission board declined to renew her term. She built her own shack and bought a pony.
At seventy-five she broke her hip. She refused to quit.
At ninety-three she could no longer ride, so villagers carried her on a stretcher from village to village so she could continue telling people about Jesus.

She never retired. She graduated.

Her son Paul Brand once said, “This is how to grow old. Allow everything else to fall away until those around you see only love.”

That is Ecclesiastes 12 lived well.

• Reflection:  If the outer house is aging, what is happening to the inner life? Are you remembering your Creator today?

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🌆EVENING— Course Correction Before the Curtain Falls

• Focal Passage: Ecclesiastes 12:13

“The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.”

After describing the fading house of old age and echoing “Meaningless! Meaningless!” Solomon gives his final word.

Life under the sun — by itself — is vapor.

Marlon Brando once said near the end of his life, “I’ve tried everything… sleeping around, drinking, working. None of them mean anything.”

He was like the prospector who once wrote: “I lost my gun. I lost my horse. I am out of food. The Indians are after me. But I’ve got all the gold I can carry!”

We can lose everything that matters while clutching what doesn’t.

So Solomon gives three final corrections:

1️⃣ Fear God

Scripture speaks of fearing God hundreds of times. More than loving. More than trusting. Fear is not cowering terror for the believer. It is awe. It is humility. It is remembering that the One who sees all will evaluate all.

2️⃣ Keep His Commandments

Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”
The whole duty of man? Love God. Love people. Walk obediently.

3️⃣ Remember Judgment Is Coming

God will bring every deed into judgment — even the hidden ones.
That truth steadies the believer. It reminds us that life matters, choices matter, faithfulness matters.

Ecclesiastes 12 is God saying, Remember who you are.
Adjust your course while there is still light.

The world does not need Christians who look identical to everyone else. It needs men and women who fear God, love deeply, and finish well.

• Reflection:  If your life were evaluated tonight, what would need adjusting? What one step would bring your course back toward faithfulness?
• Closing Prayer:  Lord, You are above the sun and beyond the grave. Teach us to number our days. Keep us faithful in youth and steady in age. Give us hearts that fear You, hands that obey You, and lives that honor You. And when our earthly house falls, carry us home. Amen.