Never too old

Old age is a gift which, sadly, some are never given.  Even more sadly some chosoe to squander this gift.  It's not always their fault; our society says that when you finish working for money you are done, over, useless, put out to graze, washed up... you get the idea.

That is shameful.

As part of the 90 day challenge we've been reading about the trials and tribulations of Abraham.  Now you may think of Abraham as a holy man, close to God and close to perfect.  He was certainly close to God but perfect he was not.

There's lots to say about the man but the best thing to do if you want to know all about him is to read Genesis 12 -25. (Another top tip is to get yourself along to Rathcoole Presbyterian Church to hear Stewart Glendinning preach about him.)  There is one thing that I have to mention though...

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.”

Genesis 17:1-2

Ninety-nine! After this promise to Abraham he had several children, almost sacrificed one of them, met some angels, witnessed the destruction of two cities, talked with Kings, buried one wife and married another.... In short, he had a busy retirement.

Don't get me wrong I know that not everyone is going to find themselves in the same situations as Abraham, not everyone will even make it to that age, but anyone who says they are too old to be useful to God needs to read about Abraham's life and think again.

Abraham did some of his best work as an old guy, not to mention all the physical activity he found time for.  In God's eyes it seems that saying 'I'm too old' is a sign of immaturity.

As we age there are certain limitations imposed on us by our ever weakening bodies, this seems to start about the age of 18.  But when we have Christ we are more than the sum of our parts, we are more than our weaknesses, in fact God says, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness' (2 Corinthians 12:9)

In summary you 'can do all things through Him who gives [you] strength'. Philippians 4:13

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Check out this awful song.  This is the original version of the Bluebells hit, 'Young at Heart' by Bananarama.