Before you watch or read today’s Daily Word, please read Ecclesiastes 12:1–8.

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In Ecclesiastes 12:1–8, the Preacher calls you to worship God now, while you can, before advancing age and declining ability rob you of the power to do so.

He does this by painting a vivid portrait of the negative aspects of aging. (We should always remember, of course, that aging has many pluses: the joy of a life well lived; the wisdom of experience; the pleasures of a lifelong companion, children, and grandchildren, to name just a few. But the Preacher’s focus does not fall on the positives, in this passage, only the negatives.) Consider the images:

• Aging is a storm that blots out the sun (verse 2).
• Aging is accompanied by weakened arms (“keepers”), legs (“strong men”), loss of teeth (“grinders”), and blinded eyes (“windows”), according to verse 3.
• Verses 4 and 5 associate aging with increased isolation (shut doors), deafness (low sound and low song), and restless wakefulness (rising at bird chatter), fear, white hair (almond blossoms), stiff walking (the dragging grasshopper), and decreased sexual appetite (“desire fails”).

At one level, the Preacher’s call is depressing. Who wants to consider his own mortality, after all, or make present choices in light of future death? No one, as far as I can tell; probably not you—certainly not I.

But the Preacher’s call is a rational one. We live in the day and age of strategic planning, long-term initiatives, and step-by-step processes for reaching your life’s goals. Surely you cannot plan your life without considering its end. And surely, if you are going to die, it would be wise for you to consider how to enter eternity. Too often, we make the mistake of thinking that our seventy-odd years on earth are all that matters. The Preacher wisely reminds us of the life to come: “man is going to his eternal home” (verse 5).

At the end of the day, you see, all things in heaven and earth go “Poof!” There will come a day when “the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it” (verse 7).This present life is a vanity of vanities. Only God, and those who choose to love him in this life, endure in happiness forever.

So, the obvious question is this: Are you prepared, not only for life, but also for death and the life to come?