The Beautiful Waste

Imagine a meal, late in the evening, friends gathered together. Suddenly a woman enters, eyes fixed on one man. Ignoring everyone else at the table, she walks toward him carrying a jar of perfume worth an enormous sum. She breaks the jar and pours all of it onto his head, filling the house with fragrance.

One guest immediately objects: "Why this waste?" What a waste of money, of a precious resource, of pouring it all out on one man. But Jesus, sitting at that table, responded, "Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me."

This is the challenge before us today from Ecclesiastes: is it a waste, or is it beautiful? What are you doing with your life? The jar you are holding, the perfume you are carrying, is your youth. If you still have years ahead of you, this message is for you—let's call you young.

Reading Ecclesiastes 11:7–12:8

Light is sweet, and it pleases the eye to see the sun. However many years anyone may live, let them enjoy them all, but let them remember the days of darkness, for there will be many. Everything to come is meaningless.

You who are young, be happy while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart, and whatever your eyes see. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment. So then, banish anxiety from your heart and cast off the troubles of your body, for youth and vigor are meaningless.

Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, "I find no pleasure in them"... Then people go to their eternal home, and mourners go about the streets. Remember him—before the silver cord is severed, the golden bowl is broken, the pitcher shattered at the spring, the wheel broken at the well, and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

Meaningless! Meaningless! says the Teacher. Everything is meaningless.

Ecclesiastes is a frustrating book. The teacher's last words are the same as his first: meaningless, meaningless, everything is meaningless. We haven't moved forward. Ecclesiastes doesn't solve the riddle of life or give solutions to our deepest pain—it simply tells us the way the world really is. We live under God's curse, in a world broken and far from what it was meant to be. And yet, in the midst of this, the writer insists: there is still a wise way to live.　　

Point One: Enjoy Life (With a Caveat)

The teacher's reflection on this broken world is not despair—it's enjoyment. "Light is sweet... let them enjoy them all." But immediately he adds: "remember the days of darkness."

Ecclesiastes teaches us to hold two realities together: enjoy life, and grieve over life—at the same time. Our world is both created and beautiful, and chaotic and fallen. We live in a beautifully broken world. You can never fully enjoy life, because the days of darkness will come.

Two Traps We Fall Into

Most of us, when things go well, fall into one of two traps:

We worship instead of enjoy. God gives us good gifts—relationships, careers, pleasure, success—and rather than enjoying them, we turn them into gods. We load them with a weight they were never meant to bear, and so they break us. If you make a relationship or a holiday your ultimate reality, you will be disappointed, because it was given for enjoyment, not worship.　　

We feel guilty instead of enjoying. Others of us think we shouldn't enjoy anything—as if being a Christian means being miserable. But the Bible is full of joy. God is a joyful God. If He gives good gifts, it's okay to enjoy a good meal, a holiday, a friendship—without guilt.　　

Verse 9 says it again: "You who are young, be happy while you're young, and let your heart give you joy... follow the ways of your heart." It's okay to enjoy your youth. Don't worship it, don't feel guilty about it—just enjoy it, remembering that God will bring you into judgment for how you live.

But then verse 10 unsettles us: "banish anxiety... cast off the troubles of your body, for youth and vigor are meaningless." Don't worry about pain—just get rid of it? We know we can't simply do that. It's like being told, if your parachute fails as you jump from a plane, the wisest thing to do is enjoy the view. You're going to die—so enjoy the view. No one can actually do that. That's the tension of Ecclesiastes.

Point Two: Remember Your Creator

Here is the second command, more urgent than advice: remember your Creator. Don't waste your youth—enjoy life and remember God. This is how to live in a broken, cursed world.

You were created. You are not an accident or a mistake—you are beautifully made by God. Something's value comes from the one who made it. A painting worth £20 to you might be worth thousands once you discover Banksy painted it—not because it changed, but because of who made it. In the same way, your worth doesn't come from your achievements, appearance, exam grades, career, or relationships. It comes from your Creator.

The Poem of Old Age

What follows in verses 1–7 is a vivid poem about aging, written by an old man pleading with the young: don't do what I did—remember your Creator while you're young.

• "The keepers of the house tremble" — the arms grow weak.
• "The strong men stoop" — the legs give way.
• "The grinders cease" — the teeth are gone.
• "Those looking through the windows grow dim" — the eyes fail.
• "The doors to the street are closed... sound of grinding fades" — hearing fades.
• "People are afraid of heights and dangers" — old age brings timidity.
• "The almond tree blossoms" — hair turns white.
• "The grasshopper drags itself along" — the body slows.
• "Desire is no longer stirred" — even the passions fade.

Then death comes: "people go to their eternal home and mourners go about the streets... the silver cord is severed... the dust returns to the ground... the spirit returns to God who gave it."

This is where we are all heading. Remember your Creator now, so that in those days, you already know Him. Watching someone who knows Jesus grow old is beautiful—but that only happens if they spent a lifetime remembering Him.

Six Practical Observations

1. Joyful praise is a powerful weapon

We forget God by nature, over and over. Psalm 103 says, "Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not his benefits." If you want to remember your Creator, you must learn to wield the weapon of joyful praise. We sing on Sundays not merely as ritual, but because singing is one of the ways we remember our Creator—captivated by Him so that He, not His gifts, becomes what we live for.

2. "I'll do it later" is a dangerous trap

Unlike the trendy "letter to my younger self" that says relax and don't take things too seriously, this old man's letter says: don't put it off. Don't waste your life chasing things that will never satisfy. Jesus gave everything for you—don't delay getting serious about sin or about knowing Him. It will never get easier to deal with than today; the longer a habit takes root, the harder it becomes to remove.

3. Ambition for the world can easily outstrip ambition for God

Many of us pursue worldly goals with more energy and enthusiasm than we pursue God. Be as ambitious for God as you are for your career, your dreams, your future. "What good is it to gain the whole world and forfeit your soul?"

4. A full stomach produces a dangerous numbness

Deuteronomy 8 warns Israel: when you eat and are satisfied, when your houses are fine and your herds increase, "your heart will become proud, and you will forget the Lord your God." Comfort and abundance, more than hardship, are often what cause God's people to forget Him. The remedy is radical generosity—give in a way that makes no sense to the world, proving that your life is not your own. If you won't be generous now with a small salary, you won't be generous later with a large one.

5. Regret is a bittersweet pill to swallow

Sin always promises no regrets—like a note that says, "I will make sure you never regret this." But sin lies, and we are left gripped by regret. Jesus is the only person who ever lived with no regrets—He never wasted a moment, a conversation, or a meal. All of His life was beautifully used for us.

6. It's never too late to get started

Whatever regrets you carry, Jesus gently says, "Let's do it now." Even if you're seventy-five, call this your youth and remember your Creator today. As the saying goes: the best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago; the second-best time is today.

The Call to Respond

As we come to this moment, you have a choice: will you set the direction of your life on the world, or on your Creator? Will you find your meaning, your trust, your hope in the world's meaningless emptiness, or in the One who made you?

If you have never trusted Jesus, never turned to God, I plead with you: do it today. As an old man speaks to the young—remember your Creator in the days of your youth. This is not a