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.
Martin Wiles is an author, pastor, English teacher, and freelance editor who resides in Greenwood, South Carolina. He is the founder and editor of the internationally recognized website, Love Lines from God (www.lovelinesfromgod.com). Wiles is the Managing Editor for Christian Devotions, the Senior Editor for Inspire a Fire, a Proof Editor for Courier Publishing, and Assistant Editor for Vinewords.net. He has also served as Web Content Editor for Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolina. Wiles has authored Don’t Just Live…Really Live (Ambassador International), A Whisper in the Woods: Quiet Escapes in a Noisy World (Ambassador International), Grits & Grace & God and Grits, Gumbo, and Going to Church (Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas), Morning By Morning, Morning Serenity, and Grace Greater Than Sin (America Star Books) and is a contributing author in Penned from the Heart (Son-Rise Publications), Rise (Chaplain Publishing), and Love Knots (Vine-Word Publishing). He has served as Regional Correspondent and Sunday school lesson writer for the Baptist Courier and has also written for Lifeway’s Bible Studies for Life curriculum. He has also been published in Christian Living in the Mature Years, Mature Living, Parenting Teens, Open Windows, Proclaim, Stand Firm, The Secret Place, The Word in Season, The Upper Room, The Upper Room Disciplines, Light from the Word, Reach Out Columbia, Mustard Seed Ministries, Journey Christian Newspaper, Common Ground Herald, The Quiet Hour, Power for Living, Halo Magazine, Joyful Living Magazine, Christian Broadcasting Network, Converge, Sharing, Today’s Christian Living, These Days, Plum Tree Tavern, Eskimo Pie, The Scarlet Leaf Review, Creation Illustrated, LIVE, Purpose Magazine, The Banner, Relevant, Bible Advocate, Reasons to Live, Author Magazine, and Lutheran Digest. Wiles has also written for the Bridges and Pathways Curriculum (Warner Press) and is a regular contributor to Christian Devotions, PCC Daily Devotions, Theology Mix, Inspire a Fire, The Write Conversation, Inkspirations, and VineWords and is a regular writer for the Dorchester County Eagle Record, the Orangeburg County Times and Democrat, and the Greenwood County Index Journal. Wiles has also served on faculty for the Asheville Christian Writer’s Conference. crat, and the Greenwood County Index Journal. Wiles also serves as the Managing Editor for Christian Devotions , the Senior Editor for Inspire a Fire, and as a Proof Editor for Courier Publishing. You can follow him @linesfromgod.
