I Think I'm Getting Old!

Well this is it, the week that many people dread; I’m turning the BIG Five O!  It’s no big deal. I still have my hair, my teeth, and most of my mental faculties (some might say I have never been right).   I really mean it when I say it’s no big deal!  The older I get the older “Old” gets, so in my mind I’m not there yet.  I use to tell people that when I had to start wearing diapers that it was time for the good Lord to call me home, now I just say if I can’t change my own diapers it time to go home. 

Life really is a blessing and if we are living then we are getting older.  My father passed away when he was 39 years old so I have already lived 11 more years than he did.  I tell people that I’m not afraid of dying, it’s the “getting dead” that worries me this comes from Romans 8:38-39 “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor thing to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will have the power to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord!”  As a Christian death is nothing to be scared of.   Last year during this week I buried a dear friend of mine who was killed in a car accident and he was 49 so I am excited that I have made it to 50. 

Getting older is a blessing from God and there are many references to this in the bible.  Deuteronomy 5:33 says “Follow the whole instruction the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live, prosper, and have a long life in the land you will possess”, 1 Kings 3:14 says “If you walk in My ways and keep My statutes and commandments just as your father David did, I will give you a long life”.  These verses do not mean that you are guaranteed a long life if you live for the Lord but they just affirm that old life is a blessing from God. 

As I am getting older I am starting to question when is it time to “retire” from the Praise Team here at MPBC?   I don’t believe that the bible describes for us a Christian retirement plan (except for the Levites who served in that capacity until 50 and then became mentors). So, I am not planning to stop serving the Lord, but I’m not sure that I should still be in the praise team when I’m 70.  Hopefully, I have a few years to make that decision.  I still enjoy leading in worship, so for now, I still feel I can serve in this capacity. 

The bible indicates that there are some good things that come with age.  Titus 2:2-3 states “Older men are to be self-controlled, worthy of respect, sensible, and sound in faith, love, and endurance”.  I pray that this verse will be lived out in my life for as long as the Lord will grant me breath and my challenge to you is that you will enjoy life and serve the Lord with the talents that he has given you. 

Geoff