A Milestone

A Milestone

I don’t know about anywhere else, but here in the UK any birthday with a zero in it is regarded as a little bit special. The big 3-0, or 4-0, or 5-0, or 6-0 are certainly all psychological as well as physical milestones. I was reminded of this when my son turned 40 earlier this year. BIG celebration !! Family and friends all partying together.

In our church this year, we have so far reached a count of six of us reaching a different milestone. According to the Bible, a mans years  are numbered as three score years and ten, or 70.  I know a few who regard this as a “limiting curse” to say that after this age, we are living on borrowed time. This is because the Bible also says that a mans days are numbered. I suspect this is where the expression of “number’s up” comes from.

For myself, as one approaching this milestone, I don’t feel any different from yesterday. I believe that the Lord has still got much work for me to do and that He will give me everything I need to complete that work. Also, as even government statistics tell me I should live at least another 10 years, I see no reason whatsoever to dis-believe them.

So what are we to do in our so-called “declining years”? What is the Lord holding for us? There is never any retirement in His Kingdom, so what is His plan for my life? Well, I don’t believe that has changed one iota.

Just two years ago, the Lord uprooted us from one place and brought us here. He planted us in a wonderful church; put us into a mentoring role with one or two of the younger couples; gave us a new family up here to the extent that we are referred to as “Mum & Dad”; and set us running the charity shop and café associated with the church. Further, the Lord has given us a real heart for the lost and hurting, the bound and the less fortunate.

In fact, we are so busy now that we wonder where we ever found time to work. And yes, of course we have to take things a little slower nowadays, but our health is good, our legs are still good, we appear to be sound in wind and limb. Selective deafness is not a problem – to me anyway – and eyes and ears may have declined slightly but they are working perfectly adequately, so we are very happy with what the Lord has for us in this latest season of our lives.

I suppose my message is that Christians have nothing to fear from ever-increasing age. God knows what we need and what we can do. He always has our interests at heart because He causes our focus to be on Him and on others rather than on ourselves. And when we get bored, we may get someone’s babies to play with – the greatest privilege of all in helping to raise the next generation.

Older age is nothing to be feared. Rather it is to be welcomed and embraced and then put to one side while we just get on with God’s business. He has much for us to do.  “They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green,” Psalm 92:14