We’re going to see in these last chapters of Ecclesiastes that true meaning in life comes to those who live for God, rather than for themselves. And it should come as no surprise that the defining factor that you need to take into account is Jesus – and his resurrection in particular.
An important question that comes out in these chapters is what’s the best stage of life to live for God? Is it when you’re young, when you’re old, or somewhere in between?
- Are you too old to live for God well? Too young, maybe?
- Or just too busy with life, waiting for easier days?
These notes accompany a sermon on YouTube delivered at Bromborough Evangelical Church in January 2026. You can find more in the series in our sermon index.
Live for God while you’re young (11:1-10)
Remember that Ecclesiastes has two authors, two voices:
- The Narrator wrote the opening verses and the ending.
- The bulk of it was written by the Teacher. He was searching for meaning in life by experiencing as much of it as he could!
- But the Teacher’s search was limited to life under the sun, the physical world around us: He didn’t pray or ask God.
Chapter 10 is a list of the Teacher’s proverbs for life, loosely tied together with a theme of planning for the future.
Chapter 11 continues the theme: He’s basically giving life advice for your money and career: Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Diversify, speculate. You don’t know what will succeed and what will fail, so try lots of things. It’s a kind of “que sera, sera” – what will be will be. Don’t wait for good conditions, just get on and plan ahead.
Now all that is fairly good advice for life, but it’s based on the idea that you’re alone and you need to make your own way.
Christian perspectives
But if you’re a Christian, your thinking about life is different:
- Psalm 139:16 all my days were written in your book and planned before a single one of them began.
- Ephesians 2:10 says that Christians are created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.
- Matthew 6:31-33 where Jesus said, “don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’… But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.
So rather than feeling like you’re alone, trying to work out the future, a Christian perspective is to step forward seeking out the works God has prepared for you. And if you’re doing what he has prepared for you, you can’t fail.
Days of darkness
In the verses that follow, the Teacher speaks more generally about enjoying youth… before you get old!
Read Ecc 11:7-8. “Remember the days of darkness, since they will be many.” He’s speaking about old age and death. He’s encouraging intentional living now while you can.
When you’re young you might have a broad expectation of how life will work out: School / college / uni | Job | Marriage | Family | Retirement | Death at a ripe old age (the end).
But because Jesus rose from the dead, death isn’t the end. In fact, this life is a tiny portion of your eternal existence. It’s ok to think about this life in those terms, but you need to remember that you’ll spend eternity somewhere.
You must also remember that old age isn’t guaranteed. Don’t think you can kid God, saying you’ll have fun now and become a boring Christian later in life! That’s so rude.
Come to God now, not later. Not even tomorrow. Do it now. Then shape your life with eternity in mind. Be with God every day. Make him your joy. Serve him happily.
Life to the full
Is that a mis-spent youth? No way! Read Ecc 11:9-10.
The Teacher is right to say that you should enjoy your youth, but to do it wisely before God. Run, dance, laugh, experience and enjoy life. Enjoy good gifts from God.
Don’t be a grumpy teen. There’s so much wasted time and opportunity by young people with so much potential. There’s so much damage being done by pouring energy into drink and drugs, and addiction to mobile phones and social media.
Jesus said (John 10:10) “I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance!”
That is the life Jesus calls you to, that he gives you. Real life. Live for God while you’re young! But also:
Live for God when you are old (12:1-7)
Read Ecc 12:1-2. This is the darkness the Teacher was speaking about in Ecc 11:8. The darkness of old age and death.
Verses 1 to 7 use poetic language to describe various features of growing old:
- The exact analogies aren’t always agreed, but the picture is clear: Growing old is hard; it’s all decay and loss.
- For example, Ecc 12:3: on the day when the guardians of the house tremble [hands shaking], and the strong men stoop [legs weaken], the women who grind grain cease because they are few [teeth], and the ones who watch through the windows see dimly [sight loss]
It ends with everything of value lost (verse 6), and then death (read Ecc 12:7).
The Teacher’s point to the young is that you should make the most of being young, because old age is all decay and then you die.
Now, as you get into your 50’s and 60’s you begin to feel age starting to catch up with you: A lack of fitness – out of breath just going up the stairs. The menopause brings some uncomfortable changes for women. Health issues start to creep in. For the first time, you realise there are more years behind than ahead – and you start to think about your own death.
As the years tick by, it’s easy to spend time looking backwards. You become frustrated at what you can no longer do.
There’s regret at all you’ve lost. But that’s looking at old age with a timeline of this life. It’s how the world sees old age.
But it’s not how you are to think about it. Not at all.
Finishing our course with joy
Jim Packer has a lovely book called Finishing Our Course With Joy (Ageing with Hope).
It’s written to older Christians. It’s short with large print. He faces up frankly to the troubles of physical decline. Packer himself suffered macular degeneration.
He says that because old age is about getting slower, that shapes how people think about retirement in general: Society says to older people, “Relax. Slow down. Take it easy. Amuse yourself. Do only what you enjoy” (page 27). That’s very much what every retirement plan I’ve ever seen aims for. But does that sound biblical?
At the end of his life, the apostle Paul said, “I have run the race”. He was not the kind of man to walk the last lap. He strained to the end, running like a man who wanted to win the prize set before him.
Jim Packer says that even as Christians you can buy in to the sense that you should slow down and put your feet up. In churches we tend to see older people that way too. Just as you handed over responsibilities and tasks when you retired from work, it’s expected that you’ll do the same in church.
But, Packer says that “prescribes idleness, self-indulgence, and irresponsibility as the goal of one’s declining years” (page 29).
For those beginning to think about retirement, you need to ask what you’re aiming for and ponder if it’s remotely biblical.
Day by day renewal
Again, churches can feed the thinking by not looking to older men and women. Packer again: “In this they behave as though spiritual gifts and ministry skills wither with age. But they don’t; what happens, rather, is that they atrophy [waste away] with disuse” (page 64).
Paul saw it this way in 2 Cor 4:16-28: Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Yes, our bodies fail. But as you press on, press forwards, your zeal for Jesus should not fade.
It’s hope for the future that keeps you zeal for him burning. You have a hope for the future beyond death. And as much as your failing body allows, it’s that zeal that keeps you wanting to serve him and to make him known.
Like a tall candle. It gives off light when it’s “young” / new, and it gives off the same light when it’s old, almost gone. Zeal isn’t measured by how much you do, but it will shine through somehow for even the most physically restricted.
We have a Life Group in the daytime specifically so that retired people who might struggle to get out at night are included. That Life Group is as much a part of the church as any other.
No-one is written off from discipleship. You are never too old for discipleship – or too young.
Ripen over time
Jim Packer uses the illustration of ripening like fruit. Spiritually, an older person ought to have been so nourished throughout life that they ripen into something beautiful.
If you want that to be you, start now. Last summer I almost threw my tomato plants out because they seemed diseased. It turned out that they were lacking a particular nutrient. I changed my tomato feed, and the plants grew and produced fruit. If you wish to ripen into a lovely, gracious older Christian, be careful what you’re putting into your growth.
And take a look at the older people in this church and see how God is working in them. You can give thanks that you have so many wonderful examples of God’s grace here.
Live for God in Christ (12:8-14)
So we come to the end of the book: Read Ecc 12:8. We’re back with the Narrator of the book, and that’s his final summary of everything the Teacher said.
The Narrator credits the Teacher with being a wise man: Read Ecc 12:9-10.
We’ve seen how so much of what the Teacher saw was very perceptive – though some of his conclusions about God were off-target. So what would happen if you followed the Teacher’s advice?
Read Ecc 12:11.
- It ends, “The sayings are given by one Shepherd” – with the capital ‘S’ suggesting God.
- There’s a footnote saying that could be translated “by a shepherd” – someone other that God.
- Given the Teacher’s advice in a few places I think the footnote is right. His proverbs aren’t all helpful.
Proverbs from the world under the sun can be like a cattle prod or firmly embedded nails. A cattle prod was a stick with a pointy end that you’d use to get cattle moving. Like a nail, it would sting. So worldly rules and proverbs are like stinging points: They guide you without comfort. They offer no eternal hope. And, mostly, they’re just burdensome. You might well feel burdened and worn down by religious rules – manmade religions are full of them.
Maybe you need another book? Read Ecc 12:12.
It’s easy to become overwhelmed and exhausted trying all sorts of helps and books, looking for meaning, hope, or life.
Fear God and obey
So the Narrator here points you to a better way: Read Ecc 12:13-14.
If you have never gone to God for your sins to be forgiven, then fear God with an utter dread: He will judge you and condemn you to hell when you meet him.
But he would much rather you go to him for forgiveness of sin! God sent Jesus into the world to save you.
You can go to him in good fear: In reverence and awe.
He even gives you a specific command: Repent!
- Acts 17:30 having overlooked the times of ignorance, God now commands all people everywhere to repent – you too.
- Acts 2:38 Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit of God in you is the downpayment of eternity. Jesus, risen Son of God is the goal of your life. God the Father calls you to abandon your sin (repent) and turn to him for forgiveness, for life, for eternal bliss with him.
You don’t need the goads and sharp nails of laws and proverbs to drive you. You will be drawn forwards by the love of Christ – and you will want to serve him, to know him, to experience him.
Live for God while you’re young, joyfully, with an eternal perspective on life.
Live for God when you’re old, recognising the toll on your body, but continuing in zeal and burning brightly for him where you are.
And live for God in Christ, with him as your goal and desire.
Fear God and obey him: Repent and live for Jesus.
Jesus said: I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance. (John 10:10) Enter into that life now and forever.