Will We Age Gracefully?
Good Morning Friends,
As I get older and as I see those aging around me, it is clear that growing old is not for sissies. Over the last several years I have met many elderly people who are in the last years of their lives. And in seeing them, the thought of being a Methuselah just boggles the mind. For the most part my friends in their 80’s and 90’s have lived what the world would call successful lives, but not all find it easy. I greet many by their first name and with some I study and read the Bible in small groups. I just received a letter from one of them and the amazing thing is that he is still young at heart. I am sure he is served by others but I am also sure that he looks out for others as a way to serve. Most are not anxious to die but anxious to matter. And the good news is that he still matters and is a witness that we might answer, in the affirmative, today’s question. Will We Age Gracefully?
Scripture: For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”
Mark 10:45 (NRSV)
Let my accusers be put to shame and consumed; let those who seek to hurt me be covered with scorn and disgrace. But I will hope continually, and will praise you yet more and more. My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all day long, though their number is past my knowledge. I will come praising the mighty deeds of the Lord God, I will praise your righteousness, yours alone. O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to all the generations to come. Your power and your righteousness, O God, reach the high heavens. You who have done great things, O God, who is like you?
Psalm 71:13-19 (NRSV)
Remember your creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come, and the years draw near when you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return with the rain; in the day when the guards of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the women who grind cease working because they are few, and those who look through the windows see dimly; when the doors on the street are shut, and the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low; when one is afraid of heights, and terrors are in the road; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along and desire fails; because all must go to their eternal home, and the mourners will go about the streets; before the silver cord is snapped, and the golden bowl is broken, and the pitcher is broken at the fountain, and the wheel broken at the cistern, and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the breath returns to God who gave it.
Ecclesiastes 12:1-12:7 (NRSV)
Message: Today we learn what it means to be great and graceful in the last years of our lives. Today we explore a time when the world says our lives are done, but we still have something to contribute. Like it or not, all of us who live grow older…we age. And we can joke about it, but deep down inside growing old is something many dread….and fear…..and are willing to do anything to avoid. Cosmeticians and surgeons have built multimillion dollar businesses selling people on ways to retain beauty. Exercise enthusiasts have sold billions of dollars’ worth of books and equipment, promising people how to look young and fit. Health food manufacturers have built huge businesses producing special foods that promise it. Scientists are researching ways to delay it. But…aging still happens and since it is coming…and there is no avoiding it… we need to prepare ourselves for what God expects of us as we age. And here we can look to the great stories in the Bible of Noah, Moses, and Caleb to get a sense of what God desires for us as we get older and hopefully wiser. You see it isn’t a tragedy to grow old physically but it is sad to grow old mentally and spiritually. Ecclesiastes makes it clear that our bodies are going to be returned to the maker. But what is more important here than even good arteries (and they are important) is a good attitude. There is an increased sensitivity to the trivial things of life as we age. Some old people always look at life with anxiety and fear. This is opposite to what God wants for us. He wants us to have faith and an expectancy of life and an abiding confidence in the future. The greatest achievements of our lives don’t have to be limited to our younger days. Maybe God is saving the best for last. Sure we are getting older, but we can do it gracefully by enjoying the abundance of a life young at heart and that means never retiring from the Christian life….it means finishing the good fight. Stay thirsty for the faith my friends.
Pray we know that beauty is in the soul, in our caring and in the passion of loving. Pray we realize that we grow old much faster when we stop laughing. Pray we not become invisible. Pray that we are willing to give when people least expect it. Pray we have wisdom in our years that are aged to perfection. Pray that we see beyond the lure of influence and power to the freedom that makes our service relevant. Pray we never expect the Lord to say, “Well done good and famous servant” but only “good and faithful servant.” Pray that we serve one another from generation to generation. Pray we honor our elders. Pray we honor God. Pray that we move from success to significance because we serve in the power of God’s love. Pray we fight the good fight. Pray we end well.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 