Youth LinkUP – Remember Your Creator | YL20251221

A  CONVERSATION

Why are you here? You are all special to me and, in some cases, special to someone close to me.

As we approach the end of a year … we start looking ahead to the new year, hoping it will be better.  That often involves looking back at the year that has been … to see what went right, what went wrong … so that we can stop doing the wrong things (or do less of them) and resolve to do more of the right things.

Some stats on resolutions (according to Google AI) …

• • First Month: About 25% give up within 30 days, with some studies showing nearly 80% abandon them by February.
  • Two to Three Months: This is a common peak for giving up, with many stopping around this time.
  • Less than Four Months: The average duration is less than four months, according to a 2023 Forbes Health survey.
  • Long-Term (Beyond a Year): A very small percentage, around 6%, stick with their resolutions for the entire year, says The Seattle Medium. 

• • Vague Goals: Unspecific goals lack clear direction.
  • Unrealistic Expectations: Setting too much change at once leads to burnout.
  • Lack of Planning: No concrete steps to achieve the goal.
  • Motivation Dip: Motivation naturally wanes after the initial excitement, often around mid-January. 

• • Be Specific: Make goals SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound).
  • Build Habits: Focus on small, consistent actions that become routines.
  • Track Progress: Monitor your journey to stay motivated.
  • Get Support: Share goals with others for accountability. 

“When I was 20 … all I cared about was what others were thinking about me.

When I was 40 … I stopped caring about what others were thinking about me.  

When I was 60 … I found out that nobody was thinking about me.”

Man is a bi-partite being (tri-partite, if you consider soul as separate from body and spirit).

Your friendly neighbourhood gym can help you with your bodily (physical) development.

The church is here to help you with your spiritual development.

GAME

First word that comes to mind when you hear …

1. God
2. Jesus Christ
3. Holy Spirit 
4. Man
5. Woman
6. Sin
7. Death
8. Salvation
9. Heaven
10. Hell
11. Church
12. Church’s Purpose
13. Church’s Role
14. Marriage
15. Wedding
16. Community Need

SURVEY

1. Do you believe in God?
2. Why/Why not?
3. How would you describe God … in 4 words?
4. What do you believe about Jesus Christ?
5. Where do you believe Man (humans) came from?
6. Why do you believe Man is on Earth?
7. Do you believe in life after death?
8. Do you believe in Heaven?
9. Do you believe in Hell?
10. Do you believe someone can be sure he/she is going to Heaven after he/she dies?
11. What do you believe is the Church’s purpose?
12. Why do you believe people go to church?
13. Why do you believe young people do not go to church?
14. Do you believe two people can get married without a wedding?
15. Do you believe two people can have a wedding and not get married?
16. How does Man decide if two people are married?
17. How do you think God decides if two people are married?
18. How do you believe Adam and Eve got married?
19. If you were PM for a month, what would you do to help your community?
20. Would you say you are at peace with God right now?

How many here have heard about King Solomon?

Who was King Solomon.

• He was the son of King David.
• He was the “wisest” man.
• He was obviously a lover of women. (See 1 Kings 11:3).
• He wrote several (most of 3) books in the Bible: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes  and  Song of Solomon.
  • Proverbs 3:5-6   Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.   
  • Ecclesiastes 7:1-2  A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of one’s birth;  ² Better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for that is the end of all men; and the living will take it to heart. 

Why is this noteworthy?

• Solomon was a king … one of the richest men in the world.  He could do anything he wanted to do.  Many of us want to do a lot of things, but we don’t because we don’t have the wherewithal.  Solomon did.
• We can assume that Solomon did all of what we men would ever want/wish to do because he was not limited as we are.

So … What did Solomon do?  And how did he benefit?   What lesson did he learn?

• Ecclesiastes 1:12-17   I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.  ¹³ And I set my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven; this burdensome task God has given to the sons of man, by which they may be^]exercised.  ¹⁴ I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind.   ¹⁵ What is crooked cannot be made straight,  and what is lacking cannot be numbered.  

  ¹⁶ I communed with my heart, saying, “Look, I have attained greatness, and have gained more wisdom than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My heart has ^[f]understood great wisdom and knowledge.”    ¹⁷ And I set my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is grasping for the wind.   

• Ecclesiastes 2:1-26, 10, 18   I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with mirth; ^[a]therefore enjoy pleasure”; but surely, this also was vanity.  ² I said of laughter — “Madness!”; and of mirth, “What does it accomplish?”  ³ I searched in my heart how to gratify my flesh with wine, while guiding my heart with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their lives.  ⁴ I made my works great, I built myself houses, and planted myself vineyards.  ⁵ I made myself gardens and orchards, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them.  ⁶ I made myself water pools from which to water the growing trees of the grove.   ⁷ I acquired male and female servants, and had servants born in my house.   Yes, I had greater possessions of herds and flocks than all who were in Jerusalem before me.   ⁸ I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the special treasures of kings and of the provinces. I acquired male and female singers, the delights of the sons of men, and musical instruments of all kinds. (Cf. Eccl.2:8 ESV and Eccl.2:8 NLT)  ⁹ So I became great and excelled more than all who were before me in Jerusalem.  Also my wisdom remained with me.  

  ¹⁰ Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them.  I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart rejoiced in all my labor;  And this was my reward from all my labor.  
  ¹¹ Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done and on the labor in which I had toiled;  And indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind.  There was no profit under the sun.  

  ¹² Then I turned myself to consider wisdom and madness and folly; For what can the man do who succeeds the king? — Only what he has already done.  
  ¹³ Then I saw that wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness.  
  ¹⁴ The wise man’s eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness.
  Yet I myself perceived that the same event happens to them all.  

  ¹⁵ So I said in my heart, “As it happens to the fool, it also happens to me,
  And why was I then more wise?”   Then I said in my heart, “This also is vanity.”  ¹⁶ For there is no more remembrance of the wise than of the fool forever,  since all that now is will be forgotten in the days to come.  And how does a wise man die?  As the fool!  

  ¹⁷ Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind.  

  ¹⁸ Then I hated all my labor in which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who will come after me.  ¹⁹ And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool?   Yet he will rule over all my labor in which I toiled and in which I have shown myself wise under the sun.  This also is vanity.   ²⁰ Therefore I turned my heart and despaired of all the labor in which I had toiled under the sun.   ²¹ For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, knowledge, and skill; yet he must leave his heritage to a man who has not labored for it.  This also is vanity and a great evil.  ²² For what has man for all his labor, and for the striving of his heart with which he has toiled under the sun?   ²³ For all his days are sorrowful, and his work burdensome; even in the night his heart takes no rest. This also is vanity.  

  ²⁴ Nothing is better for a man than that he should eat and drink, and that his soul should enjoy good in his labor.   This also, I saw, was from the hand of God.   ²⁵ For who can eat, or who can have enjoyment, more than I?   ²⁶ For God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy to a man who is good in His sight; but to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and collecting, that he may give to him who is good before God.  This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.  

What was his conclusion … after his experimentation?

• Ecclesiastes 12:13   ¹³ Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all.  
• Ecclesiastes 12:13 KJV   ¹³ Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

SO WHAT?

Ecclesiastes 12:1   Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, before the ^[a]difficult days come,  And the years draw near when you say, “I have no pleasure in them”:  ² While the sun and the light, The moon and the stars, Are not darkened, And the clouds do not return after the rain;  ³ In the day when the keepers of the house tremble,  And the strong men bow down; When the grinders cease because they are few, And those that look through the windows grow dim; ⁴ When the doors are shut in the streets, And the sound of grinding is low; When one rises up at the sound of a bird, And all the daughters of music are brought low.  ⁵ Also they are afraid of height, And of terrors in the way; When the almond tree blossoms, The grasshopper is a burden, And desire fails. For man goes to his eternal home, And the mourners go about the streets.

⁹ And moreover, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yes, he pondered and sought out and set in order many proverbs.   ¹⁰ The Preacher sought to find acceptable words; and what was  written was  upright — words of truth.  ¹¹ The words of the wise are like goads, and the words of scholars are like well-driven nails, given by one Shepherd.  ¹² And further, my son, be admonished by these.  Of making many books there is no end, and much study is wearisome to the flesh.  

Ecclesiastes 12:1-13 (NLT)  Don’t let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator. Honor him in your youth before you grow old and say, “Life is not pleasant anymore.”  ² Remember him before the light of the sun, moon, and stars is dim to your old eyes, and rain clouds continually darken your sky.  ³ Remember him before your legs — the guards of your house — start to tremble; and before your shoulders — the strong men —stoop .  Remember him before your teeth — your few remaining servants — stop grinding; and before your eyes — the women looking through the windows — see dimly.  

⁴ Remember him before the door to life’s opportunities is closed and the sound of work fades.  Now you rise at the first chirping of the birds, but then all their sounds will grow faint.  

⁵ Remember him before you become fearful of falling and worry about danger in the streets; before your hair turns white like an almond tree in bloom, and you drag along without energy like a dying grasshopper, and the caperberry no longer inspires sexual desire.  Remember him before you near the grave, your everlasting home, when the mourners will weep at your funeral.  

⁶ Yes, remember your Creator now while you are young, before the silver cord of life snaps and the golden bowl is broken.  Don’t wait until the water jar is smashed at the spring and the pulley is broken at the well.   ⁷ For then the dust will return to the earth, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.  

⁸ “Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless.”  

⁹ Keep this in mind: The Teacher was considered wise, and he taught the people everything he knew.  He listened carefully to many proverbs, studying and classifying them.  ¹⁰ The Teacher sought to find just the right words to express truths clearly.   

¹¹ The words of the wise are like cattle prods — painful but helpful.  Their collected sayings are like a nail-studded stick with which a shepherd drives the sheep.  

¹² But, my child, let me give you some further advice:  Be careful, for writing books is endless, and much study wears you out.   

¹³ That’s the whole story.  Here now is my final conclusion:  Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty.   

Proverbs 14:12 … There is a way that SEEMS right to a man … but it leads to death

• Jeremiah 17:9 … The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked ….

Ecclesiastes 12:1,6 … Remember your creator in the days of your youth.

John 1:11-12 …  ¹¹ He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. ¹² But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 

Revelation 3:20    Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.

What are you doing to enhance your relationship with God?