“The (gray) head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness.” KJV
“Gray hair is a crown of splendor, it is attained by a righteous life.” NIV Can you guess which of these translations I like best? The NIV translation is my story and I’m sticking with it. I have been young and I have been old and have found that there is good and bad in both. Looking back to my younger days, I can truthfully agree with something I read one time: “Youth is wasted on the young.” Man, would I love to have the energy of youth and wisdom of age. (Some of you might argue with “wisdom” associated with my name, but I’ll let that be your problem. lol) As I sat here in my “retirement chair” (formerly known as "Mr. Green.") thinking about the possibility of getting old,(lol) my mind turned to the Bible and what it has to say about age. One of my favorite verses is the one written above. I want to share some things with you about the contributions of the aged in the Bible. I first think of Abraham. It seemed that he was old when he had just gotten started. When he was seventy-five years old, Abraham was called out of Ur of the Chaldees to go to the land that God had picked out for him. When he was one-hundred and Sarah was ninety, their only child, Isaac, was born. When his wife, Sarah, died, Abraham married a woman by the name of Keturah They had seven children. (You might say that they don’t make them like that anymore.) Through all of his years, Abraham remained a devoted servant of God. As it usually does with its famous people, the Bible tells us some dumb things that Abraham did, but he comes out pretty well because he had faith, and in spite of those dumb things, he was an effective servant of God. Abraham teaches us, also, that just because you’re old doesn’t mean that your life is over. Hey, it is over when it is over. Next I think of Moses. Moses escaped from Egypt when he was forty years old. He married Zipporah and they had two boys. This went on for forty more years until he was eighty. It was at this point, while he was tending his father in law’s sheep, that he was called by God to go back to Egypt and lead the Jews out of Egypt. Moses knew the situation there since he lived his first forty years there, probably in Pharaoh’s palace. He had to escape to MIdian because he killed an Egyptian who mistreated one of his Jewish brethren. It is interesting that out of all of the excuses that Moses made about why he shouldn’t be the one to lead the Jews out of Egypt, he did not use his age as an excuse. (You can read about his excuses in the fourth chapter of Exodus.) Though Moses was an old man of eighty when he began the task that God called him to, he stuck with it and led the people to the brink of the Promised Land. He is still considered one of the greatest, if not the greatest prophet in the Old Testament, and thinking of all of the prophets, that is a big compliment. Then I think of Caleb. We meet Caleb in the thirteenth chapter of Numbers. He was sent out with twelve other men, one of them being Joshua, to spy out the land that God had promised to Abraham. Only he and Joshua reported that they could take the land, while the other ten spies gave a bad report. He was over forty at that time. Forty-five years later, when the Jews, invaded the Promised Land, he was still ready to fight and take the land allotted to him though he was eighty-five years old. The Bible tells us that the old man took that land without a great deal of trouble. What is the common thread that runs through the accounts of Abraham, Moses and Caleb? They served God until the day that they died. We do not read of their complaining about their ages during that time. They should inspire us, whether young or old, to keep on keeping on in our service to God without making excuses and doing a whole lot of complaining. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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September 2021
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