Growing Older

April 1 2018

From the time we are born, our life calendar starts to track our age. We celebrate birthday after birthday until finally some of us say we don’t want to be reminded anymore of our age. We’d rather forget that we are aging.

Aging can be both a blessing and a curse. If we age gracefully and remain in good health, it can be a blessing. On the other hand, if we start to have health issues as we age, it could be looked at as a curse. I have often heard people say that it is no fun getting old. They are referring to the aches and pains that they experience along with aging. It is no fun when they must take medication when they get up in the morning and when they go to bed at night.

In the 12th Chapter of the Book of Ecclesiastes, it gives us an idea of what we can expect in our old age. Our arms will tremble, we will start to lose teeth, we can’t sleep during the night, our hearing will diminish, we won’t be as agile as we were in our youth and we will start to lose our appetite. This won’t happen all at once, but gradually we’ll start to notice a difference in our bodies.

The way growing old is described in this text, we don’t have anything to look forward to. I believe that description is what happens to people who don’t have a relationship with Christ and have not taken diligent care of themselves. When you are “in Him” (have a relationship) He preserves us, and keeps us healthy. Why?Because we are obeying His Word and it gives us life. The Bible described Moses as being strong and having good eye sight in his old age. That’s because Moses had a relationship with the Lord and he was faithful. Hence, God preserved Him. Billy Graham recently died at the age of 99 and look at how God preserved him.

We thank God for the opportunity to grow older in Him. He will cause us to prosper and be in health even as our soul prospers. We should thank God for every single day that He gives us to breathe. We don’t resent the days, but we gladly embrace and appreciate them because they are the days that the Lord made. Therefore, we rejoice in them.

The next time you think about getting older, think about how good God is to you and how He has blessed you to be alive and in good health with a sound mind.