Are You Getting Better With Age?

Col. Harlan Sanders got his first $99 Social Security check at age 65 and decided he needed to do something else to make some additional cash.  The result?  Fried chicken popular the world over.  After becoming an astronaut and later, a senator from Ohio, John Glenn retired.  And then went into space again at age 77!  You have, no doubt, heard of Grandma Moses, whether you know her work or not.  She became perhaps the most famous primitive artist in American history though she never picked up a brush until she was 76.

This quick choice will tell you a lot about yourself: “Do you think things become more or less valuable with age?”  Your likely answer: “It depends.”  In fact, it DOES depend, doesn’t it?  What do you think is the key factor that drove each of the aforementioned antiquarians to make such profound contributions so late in life?  What is it that drives those who seem to age well, “like fine wine”?  There are MANY examples in Scripture of amazing acts completed by those who have a little gray on their temples, but this one will serve to make my point:

Joshua was now old, getting on in years, and the Lord said to him, “You have become old, getting on in years, but a great deal of the land remains to be possessed.  This is the land that remains: All the districts of the Philistines and the Geshurites…all the land of the Canaanites…the land of the Gebalites and all Lebanon…all the inhabitants of the hill country…all the Sidonians.  I will drive them out before the Israelites, only distribute the land as an inheritance for Israel, as I have commanded you.  Joshua 13:1-6

OK, then!  I can testify that I KNOW I’m getting old, yet when someone else says it (especially if it’s GOD) it really drives home the point.  I don’t believe God was just reminding Joshua of his increasing age, but instead reminding him that IF he was going to complete his work for God, he’d better get on with it!  Time was running out for Joshua and he still had a job to do.  So Joshua did as God commanded and fulfilled his purpose.

When God makes us His through the power of the Gospel and the empowering of the Holy Spirit, He does it with a purpose.  In Joshua’s case, God commanded him to take the land and possess it – not just to find a nice shady spot and wait for eternity.  There is no such thing as a retired rescuer of Israel, nor a retired follower of Jesus.  What, you thought retirement was your reward for working hard?  Your cessation from punching a clock doesn’t mean you get to stop what you’re doing for God.  It just means you have more flexibility to finish whatever God has challenged you to be and do.  Joshua’s victory in possessing the land didn’t end his work or anyone else’s.  It was just one victory along the way.  The rest we’re all waiting for is still to come!

For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day…For the person who has entered His rest has rested from his own works, just as God did from His.  Hebrews 4:8,10

Perhaps the key to FEELING valuable as we age is purpose.  If you don’t know yours yet, find someone who can help you identify it. But don’t doubt that God has something for you to do.  So get up out of that recliner and get busy!  There’s work to be done.

Getting on in years, but ready for what’s next,

Jacob