I am the first of the baby boomers. I was born in 1946 along with George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. A lot of water has gone under the bridge since the inception of the baby boomer era. There’s a little wear and tear on our mortal bodies. I don’t run down the first base line with the same rapidity I once did. In fact, I don’t run the bases at all anymore.
For believers, though our physical bodies are decaying, our spirits grow stronger.
As this generation of individuals reaches this stage of life, they begin to move into a nostalgic malaise, pondering “the good old days.” Yet, as Christians, we thank God for His faithfulness in the past and use it as a springboard of faith for our involvement in the new things God wants to do. The physical limitations of age sometimes force us to vary the type and extent of our service, but this in no way means we’re ready to be put out to pasture. Scripture teaches even in old age we will still produce fruit. We should never allow ourselves to become a prisoner of a positive past.
At the age of seventy, E. Stanley Jones—missionary and statesman to India—raised a few eyebrows when he proclaimed his next ten years would be his best. When he reached eighty, the naysayers had to admit he was right. After he turned eighty, Jones prayed for more and better years, and the Lord spoke to him that the next era would be one of his greatest contributions. And it happened.
Jones said toward the end of his life, “Is this period of my life a sunset or a sunrise? But this that I have doesn’t have the feel of a sunset at all. It has the feel of a sunrise. In Jesus there are no sunsets; they are all sunrises. He is the bright and morningstar, not the evening star. He is the Lord of the past, the present, and the future.”
Always remember that in Christ our home is in heaven. Though our bodies are fading, God’s Spirit is renewing our spirit in anticipation of the day when we will be with Him. The best days for Christians are always ahead. Rejoice every day that in Christ we are forever young.
(Photo courtesy of morguefile and Darnok.)
(For more devotions, visit us at www.christiandevotions.us.)
Ken Barnes has had a twenty-five year career in educational pursuits. He has taught in various public and private schools in Pennsylvania, Hawaii, and Virginia. He also worked for seventeen years with Youth With A Mission as a school leader, recruiter, and director. Ken holds a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from Virginia Commonwealth University. He is the author of The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places. He currently is a speaker, blogger, and freelance writer. Ken lives with his wife Sharon in Mechanicsville, Virginia. Visit Ken at https://sites.google.com/site/kenbarnesbooksite/