Even in old age they will still produce fruit; they will remain vital and green. Psalm 92:14 NLT
I couldn’t imagine what a sixty-year-old person was doing in my college classroom.
Eight years after graduating from high school—and finally succumbing to God’s call to enter full-time ministry—I enrolled in college. I wasn’t excited about attending a traditional college where most of my classmates would be newly-graduated high school students.
Fortunately, I found a college that accommodated people in my age category who were entering the ministry as well. But when a retirement age student walked into the classroom, I couldn’t help but wonder why God would call someone that late in life. For a person in their late twenties—as I was—a person in their late sixties was near death (not that I think that now, since I’m nearing that category myself).
Attending college with some older students taught me the truth of what the psalmist wrote. Age is relative, and it certainly doesn’t keep one out of God’s service. Even now, I have a Canadian friend who is in her eighties and in a nursing home, but still writing for God.
Some places of employment might require us to retire at a certain age, or after we’ve worked a certain number of years with their company, but God never will. He offers the best retirement plan, but He’ll never ask us to retire early…or at all.
Age brings with it certain limitations, but it never takes away all possibility of serving God. He always has something we can do that will trump any physical limitations age may bring. If nothing else, we can pray or send a card of encouragement to someone. We could even find someone to mentor in the faith.
Plan to eat right (most of the time) and stay in decent shape, so you can serve God with vigor for as long as possible. Then, when it comes time to enjoy his retirement plan, we can die satisfied—knowing we did all we could for as long as we could.
Don’t let age—along with its limitations and ailments—keep you from serving God.
Photo by Filipp Romanovski on Unsplash
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