The Older I Get
Frequently, folks ask me, “How old are you?” While I would like to credit the reason for their query to my youthful appearance, truthfulness demands I credit it to their curiosity. As my grandmother used to say, “No one should complain about growing old. Too many are denied the privilege.” So, I admit my next birthday, the Lord willing it arrives will permit me the goal of the three-score years and ten. (Ps. 90:10) Statistically, three generations of the firstborn Davis males in my lineage never made it to sixty. Dad was the first to surpass seventy, being seventy-six when he passed. I must realize I’m nearing that mark by God’s grace, and therefore I value each day as another blessing!
As stated, this isn’t issued as a complaint of any sort! I truly value life and its contents with extreme thanksgiving to God! Life is made up of time, and time is comprised of seconds, accumulating to minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, decades, et al. Thus, to waste time is to waste life: that is a habit I have no interest in formulating! The older I get the more I realize how quickly time passes, and how many projects are yet to be completed!
For the Christian, prioritizing the deeds of our life must keep the kingdom of God and His righteousness on top (Matthew 6:33; Colossians 1:18). Especially for me as a gospel preacher, however, I’m finding the composition of sermons requires much more time than it did just a few years ago. Preparing bible studies requires more time as well, especially if the study is “topical” in nature. The teacher needs to be prepared for every contingency possible in such discussions, and so more study and “side notes” are required. Some might suggest that age has lessened the ability to remember. Yes, perhaps in some instances. But the reason I find most pressing for these preparations is the increased desire for accuracy! The older I get the fewer opportunities will come for corrections! It just must be exactly right before I speak!
The older I get, the more I realize the blessings God grants to the righteous! The psalmist David wrote, “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.” (Ps. 37:25) One of the things that trouble me as I age is the expressed DIS-content of the populace. Seemingly, the more we have, the more we want. Passages like Philippians 4:11, 1 Timothy 6:8, and Hebrews 13:5 just don’t have the value to some that they did for generations past. Why? Might it be because we’ve forgotten how to be content with what we have? The older I get, the more I value what I have and the more I thank God for those things!
The older I get, the more frustrated I find myself when those that should know better express apathy instead of diligence! Oh, I know many who think just frustrations are just a typical “ailment” of getting old. But I respectfully disagree! Age doesn’t always equate with ignorance! Sure, older folks aren’t going to understand modern technology as readily as the youth who have known nothing else. But one thing older folks have that younger folk need is experience. From whom better to gain the knowledge of experience than from the elderly? As youth are wont to say, “We’ve been there, done that, got the t-shirt!” Youth need to ask us, and we older ones need to be willing to impart our experiences if for no other reason than to help guide the youth away from the pitfalls of life we, by the grace of God, survived! The older I get the more difficult it is to watch and hear ignorance going to seed because of a lack of knowing how to do it, when to do it, and why to do it! The older I get, the more I appreciate the time it takes to think!
The older I get, the more I desire Heaven! As I read the Psalms, the desire for Heaven is spoken so eloquently and frequently. As I contemplate Paul’s writing to Philippi and Timothy, I cannot escape his fervent desire for God’s home. (Phil. 1:23; 2 Tim. 4:1-8). The older I get, the more I realize I’m more like David who said to Jonathan, “There is but a step between me and death.” (1 Sam. 20:3) Therefore, everything I say or do increases my responsibility to be righteous in that action! I must walk and talk more cautiously. I must behave myself in the presence of others with increased respect and dignity! I’m getting older, and therefore, the time of my departure is at hand!
The older I get, the more I see distressing changes around me: changes that quickly become acceptable instead of despised. Such changes sadly prove the Lord’s prophesy of Isaiah 5: 20 – 24 can be said of today’s world just as He intended and fulfilled it in Israel’s time. Paul warned of such change (2 Tim. 3:13), and yet the world accepts these changes without complaint. The older I get, the more disgusting sin is to me! Further, the older I get the more dangers I see in store for those not yet protected by the blood of Christ Jesus and the safety of being in His kingdom, the church! That’s why, the older I get, the more time I find needed to prepare myself for judgment! (Heb. 9:27) I know not how much more sand is in this glass of time for me, but I am sure it is one glass that cannot be turned over! I must be right with God!