The life of every living thing is in His hand, as well as the breath of all mankind. Doesn’t the ear test words as the palate tastes food? Wisdom is found with the elderly, and understanding comes with long life. Wisdom and strength belong to God; counseling and understanding are His. Job 12:11-13 HCSB
Today I wished my nephew a Happy Birthday. No matter how old he actually is, in my mind, he is always 12. I don’t know why that age sticks with me, but it does. Same with my other nephew. Even with myself, I find it hard to believe that I am as old as I am. On numerous occasions, my wonderful stepson has told me about someone he thought I might know and I ask, “how old are they?” and he responds, “they are pretty old, like maybe 40”. Isn’t he precious?
But yes, I remember when I was in my twenties and forty seemed old. Then in my thirties, fifty seemed old and, well, I better not go any further with this. But, I can honestly say that I am happy where I am. Of course, we would love to go back in time with the knowledge we have now. We could virtually live our lives free of mistakes, but God didn’t make us that way. If we were able to live without mistakes, what need would we have for Him in our lives? The many mistakes that I have made in my life have brought me to where I am now. So I have to say I am grateful for my mistakes, they were powerful lessons learned. Hopefully, we gain wisdom as we learn from our mistakes.
As we age, we should grow wiser. I know this is not the case with everyone, but it should be. As I have mentioned before, I like to observe people and one thing I have observed is that those who are in close relationship with the Lord tend to grow wiser with age. However, I have friends who, at our age, are still trying to do it all on their own and honestly it is though they are losing brain cells as they age, just sayin’.
The Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 4:16 that though our outer bodies may be wasting away, our inner bodies or our spirits are being renewed every day.
One thing I have learned is that the old saying, “use it or lose it” holds true. Fifteen years ago, I was in the best shape I had ever been. I was running five days a week, weight training and felt great. But as time went on, I lost that initiative to take good care of myself and I feel it. Just the other day, I kneeled down to fasten something on my vacuum cleaner and hurt my knee. I mean seriously, I only kneeled down. I didn’t fall, I didn’t hit anything, I just simply bent down.
We have a choice on how we care for our bodies by choosing healthy food and exercising regularly. We have a choice on how we care for our spirit by choosing to live in close relationship with our Lord and Savior through Bible reading and prayer.
Fifteen years ago, I was in great physical shape, but boy did I make some stupid mistakes. I was physically fit, but not very spiritually fit. I made some very unwise choices. My prayer for you today as you read this is that you are keeping your body and your spirit in good shape. I pray that you are making wise choices. Now your physical body will waste away eventually. The Bible tells us in Genesis 3:19 that we were taken from dust and we will return to dust. So, yes, I would love to be in the physical shape that I was in 15 years ago, but I wouldn’t trade that for the spiritual shape that I am in now.
When we stay close to God we gain wisdom as we age. When we trust in Him as our Lord and Savior, He gives us eternal life. And the great thing about that is that it won’t be in this old body. Many believe that we will be as we were between the ages of 30-33 when we get to heaven based on 1John 3:2 which tells us “that when He appears, we shall be like Him”. Many believe that this means that we will be the same age as Jesus was when he was crucified, which was 33.
Now I have said all this to tell you what I really think about age. I really think that age is just a number. I truly believe that you are as young as you feel. But I also know that when your spirit is healthy, you just feel better. Yes, my knee may hurt from a simple act of kneeling, but spiritually I feel great. I am glad to be a child of God. I am healthy and whole and I trust in Him to take good care of me until He calls me home.
My prayer for you today is that whatever your age, you are gaining spiritual wisdom, the kind of spiritual wisdom that can only come from living in close relationship with Christ our Savior. I pray that you are experiencing the peace and the joy that this brings. I pray that you are making wise decisions and living your life in a way that will keep you spiritually fit!
Have a great day!