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Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing; - Psalm 92:13,14.
I was selling a camper many years ago, and I still remember the first call I received from my ad in the newspaper. The telephone rang, I picked up the receiver and a distinctly elderly voice began asking questions about my travel trailer.
Her questions were numerous and I was on the ‘phone with her for quite a while. Then she gave me the punchline to the whole episode – “I am interested,” she said, soaring my hopes for a quick sale, “but I have to sell my Jet Ski boat first.”
We said goodbye, I hung up the ‘phone and in my mind I could not help picturing Granny zooming across the waves on her Jet Ski boat. I still smile when I think about this energetic senior trading in her Jet Ski boat to start another adventure with a camper.
“That’s the spirit!” I thought. You are only as old as you think you are. I have a relative that is the same way. No matter how old he gets, he remains as youthful as he can be in his mind.
It is the goal of any true Christian to be able to serve the Lord as long as we can. We have been given promises in His Word that He will continue to bless us with productivity as we age. Even if we can’t physically do some of the things we did in our youth, the ministry of prayer is a vigorous exercise that does much to advance the kingdom of God.
We also have through Jesus’ sacrifice for us, the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Father, (Matthew 10:20), the Eternal Life force, our fountain of Living Water that flows within, reminding us that even though our outward man is frail and perishing, our inward man is renewed daily, (II Corinthians 4:16) and we can, as followers of Messiah Jesus, be forever young.
I remember another telephone conversation I had with an elderly pastor of a small church in Maryland. He was eighty-three years old. He told me that his wife of fifty-one years had died fourteen years ago. We talked about the Lord for a while, but the conversation revealed the loneliness of life without the comfort of his wife. We talked some more, then he asked me to pray for him. I asked the Lord to give me the right words and I felt that gentle touch of His Spirit upon mine and I began to pray.
I prayed that this man would feel more of the comforting presence of the Holy Spirit in His life. When we experience loss, our first instinct is to try somehow to put everything back the way it was before, but the pieces will never fit together again in exactly the same way. There will be gaps and empty spaces. But they are there for a reason. These are the places that God wants to fill and He will - if we let Him.
I prayed that he would continue to see fruit in his ministry and not be concerned about the size of his congregation because the only thing that mattered to the Lord was his faithfulness to the ones he has been called to serve. I reminded him through my prayer that Jesus changed the world with only twelve faithful disciples.
I told him that God has seen his devotion and gathers each moment of obedience like jewels. Sometimes we don’t realize we are sowing treasure in the simple things we do to minister to someone else.
He thanked me and even though we were talking on the telephone and I couldn’t see his face, I sensed his smile.
Moses was an old man too when he climbed a mountain to commune with God, and he received the blessings of a fresh revelation and the passion of a new direction.
Eighty-three – you are never too old for a new beginning, – or a little spiritual mountain climbing.
Comfort a senior with "A Message for My Seniors" from our feature - Senoir Moments
Copyright 2011 by H. D. Shively
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