10/04/2019
Are you of old age, or are you dealing with a father, mother, or someone who is? Do the issues of growing old concern you, or does death frighten you? Well take heart; though our bodies weaken, and our minds become slowed by time, the Lord God is with us in those times, and carries with Him the promises He made to us in our youth. This is the time when the fruit of one’s faith is prepared for harvest, and the glory of God is realized as we yield the juice of life to the press, and give the wine of our lives to the young.
“even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.”
Isaiah 46:4 ESV
Much is said of growing old, and what we are to do with our final years, but to those who believe, nothing is more important than tending to the younger generations concerning their faith, or to the salvation of others who are aging, and have not yet acknowledged Jesus as the Son of God. Nothing is more important than to lead them to repent of their sins, and come to a true belief in His life, death, and resurrection... thus loving God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. This is the juice of the press that is now the wine of our faith.
“O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come.”
Psalms 71:17-18 ESV
In our youth we think of mission trips as venturing off into faraway places where distant people need to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. But aging changes this, and those who are old have a responsibility that lies closer to home. In our older years, the mission is still a journey... though instead of faraway earthly places, we are approaching heaven, and the home we have with God. We are thus tasked with moving back and forth from there to our earthly abode... bringing the wisdom of our years, and teaching those who need to hear of God, and our savior Jesus Christ. No field is more ready for harvest than that which has aged, and has turned the color of grain... dried, and ripe in the field. No crop needs tending more than those of our younger generations... green, waving to and fro in the wind, and in need of living water. So in our latter days we should speak the gospel to the aged who are not yet saved, and tend to the faith of the young who thirst for God.
“But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good,”
Titus 2:1-3 ESV
God has a plan for the elderly that includes delivering the gospel of Jesus, and yes, he has a plan for the younger generations regarding how they are to receive their elders. Scripture tells the young about the faith of their fathers and mothers...
“They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God. They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, to declare that the Lord is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.”
Psalms 92:13-15 ESV
And scripture also speaks of the wisdom accumulated during a lifetime...
“Wisdom is with the aged, and understanding in length of days.”
Job 12:12 ESV
Not everything that is said in our older years is wise, and some knowledge, though once of value, is outdated, but there are lessons that only time can teach, and wisdom that is gained by spending years in the refinery of faith. So the young should honor their fathers and mothers, and take advantage of the wisdom, and knowledge of their years by picking the plump ripe grapes, and letting those that have shriveled fall. They should do this before the vine’s days are over, the leaves have fallen, and the harvest has passed...
“Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, "I have no pleasure in them"; before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those who look through the windows are dimmed, and the doors on the street are shut—when the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low— they are afraid also of what is high, and terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and desire fails, because man is going to his eternal home, and the mourners go about the streets— before the silver cord is snapped, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.”
Ecclesiastes 12:1-7 ESV
Our days are truly numbered, and just like the grapes, that are only good to harvest for a time, so is the wisdom of the old, because there is a growing season, a season of harvest, a season of consumption, and then a season when the grapes will whither and fall; returning to the ground that nurtured them. So the young should diligently seek wisdom from the old, and the old should take care to pass on the knowledge of their faith to the following generations before the joy of eternity comes, and all of God’s promises are realized...
“So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. Return, O Lord! How long? Have pity on your servants! Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.”
Psalms 90:12-14 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for the years we spend walking this earth with you, and the wisdom we gather in traveling those miles. Thank you also for our mothers and fathers who came before us, and the wisdom and knowledge they gained from you, and that we gleaned from them. Help us in our youth Father to see the value of our parent’s years, and to take advantage of them while we can. Help us Holy Father in our own years of grey, and slow gait, to pass along our faith, and the revelations we have gained over the years, to new generations. Use us in our youth and vitality, and use us equally in our years of decline. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God whose will, and plan for our lives begins before we are born, and carries forward into eternity. Faithful are you to your Word, and promises. You are faithful in our youth, and even in our aging as we face death, and our rising to join Jesus in glory. Mighty are you Lord, for you have defeated sin, and death through Christ. Praised be your name for walking with us, and abiding with us, as we have fearfully sought you all our days. All glory is yours Father. Your mercy and grace know no end, and your love covers us like a sweet oil. Hear my prayers all my years, and may my spirit seek out your will in them... that your will is reflected in me, and my desires, always.
“Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity. Honor widows who are truly widows. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God.”
1 Timothy 5:1-4 ESV
Rich Forbes