Ecclesiastes 11:9
“Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.”
Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun:
But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity.
Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.
Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity.
Counter-Arguments
The strongest case that this verse does not belong in this theme.
Cross-References
“For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.”
“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
“Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;”
“It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.”
“I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.”