04/29/2015 OLD AGE GREATNESS
Isaiah 46:4 I will be your GOD through all your lifetime, yes, even when your hair is white with age, I made you and will care for you. I will carry you along and be your SAVIOR. [Living Bible translation]
Psalms 92:12-14 The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our GOD. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green. [New International translation]
1Kings 3:14 And if you walk in my ways and obey my statutes and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life. [New International translation]
Deuteronomy 34:7 Moses was 120 years old when he died, yet his eyesight was perfect and he was as strong as a young man. [Living Bible translation]
Joshua 14:10 And now, behold, the LORD has kept me alive, as HE said, these forty-five years since the time that the LORD spoke this WORD to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness; and now, lo, I am this day eighty –five years old. [Revised Standard translation]
Summary
The Bible is full of old age greatness! Sometimes we just forget, especially as we experience older age. Sometimes we forget about old age greatness as we watch a parent age. Sometimes we get discouraged or forget when we look in the mirror at aging hair, wrinkled skin or start to make comparisons with some younger mental picture of ourselves. Sometimes, we forget when relationships age ---such as in a family, in a marriage, or in the church itself, as when the pews start to “turn grey.” But if we study our Bible and scriptures, such as Palms 92:12; 1Kings 3:14; Deuteronomy 34:7, Joshua 14:10, Palms 143:5; Genesis 15:5, Palms 71:18, Psalms 91:16, Palms 143:5; Proverbs 16:31, there can be greatness in old age!
Just as there are promises about serving GOD in our youth (e.g., Ecclesiastes 12:1) there are promises about serving HIM as we grow old. All we need to do is continue to study our Bibles and remember.