Here are some questions based on last Sunday’s sermon text (Ecclesiastes 11:7 – 12:7), in case they’re helpful to you for personal growth or group discussion…

• [11:7-8] Do you believe that “light is sweet”—that life is good? Why or why not? Can light be good if there is so much darkness? Can life be good if there is so much suffering and death? What reason(s) could you have for rejoicing in all the many years of your life as you get older and further away from the strength of youth? Can you rejoice in life without denying the reality of death?

• [11:9-10] The young are able to enjoy life relatively easily, but are often ignorant of the realities that make life so difficult, and avoid thinking much about death or God’s judgment. Ecclesiastes commends joy, and suggests that we can enjoy life more truly by actually considering God’s judgment, by keeping an eternal perspective. The young are called to be wise and to begin enjoying life in relationship with God as soon as possible. (Those who come to faith later in life always wish they had come to enjoy knowing Christ earlier!) Do the ideas of eternity, of meeting God face-to-face, of God’s judgment inspire you to rejoice in this life? Why or why not? Can young people “walk in the ways of [their] heart” while following Christ and loving God? Are there young people in your life who need to hear the message of this passage, in order to enter into the joyful love of God and truly rejoice in the brief life God has given them?

• [12:1-7] Ecclesiastes instructs young people to “remember your Creator” before growing old, before facing the difficulties of age, before the sunset of life. What is it about remembering God as a person’s own Creator that helps us to believe that this brief life is good? Do you think of God as your Creator? Why did God make you and give you your life? Why do you believe this? What do you think it will be like, going to your “eternal home” with this Creator, your spirit returning “to God who gave it”? Why do you believe this? How do you think it might change your outlook on life in this world if you kept these thoughts in mind, if you remembered your Creator?