Ecclesiastes 11

"Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth; walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes; but know that for all these God will bring you into judgment.  Therefore remove sorrow from your heart, and put away evil from your flesh, for childhood and youth are vanity." Ecclesiastes 11:9-10 (NKJV)

I once saw a bumper sticker that read, “Hire a college student while they still know everything.”  As a parent of teenagers and young adults, I resonate with that bumper sticker!  On the one hand, there is something to be admired when young people are filled with optimism and talent and work hard to achieve their goals.  But when youth are endowed with talent, intelligence, opportunity, and grit yet refuse to seek the Lord’s guidance, that is a recipe for a major downfall.  And that is exactly Solomon’s observation.

Notice how he says nothing about youth seeking the Lord.  Rather, he describes youth who walk in the ways of their heart.  That sounds so positive.  But consider what the Lord says about the unredeemed heart:

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?  I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.” Jeremiah 17:9-10 (NKJV)

Or what about those youth who walk in the sight of their own eyes, as opposed to being led by the Spirit.  Sounds romantic, right?  But we are commanded to walk by the Spirit’s leading as we place our faith in God’s Word, not by formulating our own life’s plan based on the world as we observe it.  Walking by faith and not sight is especially compelling because there is a judgment forthcoming.  We will all be held accountable for how we spent our time on earth and to what extent we invested the spiritual gifts He has entrusted to us.

“For we walk by faith, not by sight.  We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.  Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” 2 Corinthians 5:7-10 (NKJV)

Solomon’s message is very clear: It is time to grow up, time to put away childishness, which is evil and vain for adults to pursue.

“When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child;  but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face.  Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.” 1 Corinthians 13:11-12 (NKJV)