God bless you and greetings in the name of Jesus Christ through whom God shows us the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us (Ephesians 2:7).
I love the time I spend in God’s Word. I never seem to do it enough, but when I leisurely or recreationally do so I always am so touched. I know I’ve made fun of the person who opens the Bible randomly and places his finger down on a verse to get his guidance for the day, but I did it the other day and really hit a winner!
Joshua 13:1:
Now Joshua was old and stricken in years; and the LORD said unto him, Thou art old and stricken in years, and there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed.
The reason this tickled me so much is because I had just spent a month in the hospital and certainly felt old and stricken in years. I know God’s design is that we age, but there is no reason to be strickened or sickly. I always appreciated God’s testimony about Moses, which was what I always believed would be my situation.
Deuteronomy 34:7: New Living Translation
Moses was 120 years old when he died, yet his eyesight was clear, and he was as strong as ever.
I know there is no set retirement age for the believer. Transitions into different forms of service may be necessary, but God has something for His people to do. So, when I read God tell Joshua, “There remaineth yet very much land to be possessed.” I got the message.
Joshua spent 40 years in the wilderness, led the long hard conquest of Canaan, and was now at least 80 years of age. (I’m only 73.) Although it read “old and stricken in years,” I couldn’t substantiate this meaning sickly from the Hebrew. However, I did chuckle that after the narrative described Joshua as “old and stricken in years,” God directly said the same to him, “Thou art old and stricken in years. . .” But, there was still much yet to do, and God sent Joshua out again for further conquests.
For those of us who love and serve the Lord, there is always more to do. There is still much prayer and praise to be made, more Scripture to study and learn, many people yet to reach with the good-news of the gospel, more fellowship to be enjoyed, and a great wealth of life experience to give. Yes, there’s much yet to do. Let’s thrive not just survive. God wants us to flourish.
Psalms 92:12-14:
The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. 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.
Old age eventually comes to everyone who survives youth and middle age, but that does not mean it is time to quit.
Psalms 71:17-18:
O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works. Now also when I am old and greyheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come.
That’s quite a challenge for those of us who are older. Let’ leave a legacy with the ones we love.