Getting Older

You know you’re getting older when: your knees buckle and your belt doesn’t; you talk about ‘the good old days’; you sit in a rocking chair and can’t make it go; by the time you’ve lit the last candle on your birthday cake the first one has burned out; you no longer think ‘getting older’ jokes are funny. Getting older isn’t for the faint-of-heart, so the Bible gives us glimpses of what to expect. Isaac’s eyesight gave out. (Genesis 27:1) David was always cold. (1 Kings 1:1–4) Paul referred to himself as ‘Paul, the aged’ (Philemon 1:9 NAS) and talked about the physical and emotional pains of old age—of feeling abandoned and lonely, being disappointed by fellow workers, and saying goodbye to friends he might never see again. (2 Timothy 4:9–21) Jon Walker writes: ‘On my most recent birthday my sister sent me this message: ‘The bad news: outwardly we are wasting away.’ (Did I mention this is my older sister and, as I like to remind her, she will always be my older sister!) Then she added, ‘The good news: We do not lose heart… even though outwardly we are wasting away… the inward man is being renewed every day.’ If you have creaky joints, arthritic hands, weakened eyes, a slow step, an ear that struggles to hear, or a heart that beats with more of a tick that a thump, be encouraged! God is preparing a… celebration for the day you arrive in Heaven, where you’ll no longer age because you’ll be home in the land of the ageless.’