Articles
Perspective of a Septuagenarian
I’ve been practicing my imitation of an old man, and I’m getting better at it every day!
If you too have reached that stage of life, do you recall how the year 2000 at one time seemed so distant, so futuristic? And have you been amazed to realize that a number of your grade school teachers you thought old back then, were actually several years younger than you are now?
How does it feel to be the oldest person in the room? Or to know that so many loved ones have passed on? Or to see your hair whiten and bodily ailments increase?
Should we let all this depress us?
Instead, let’s focus on the plusses of growing older—that is, growing older in Christ. There are advantages we cannot enjoy until we reach a certain stage in life—in addition to the grandkids and senior discounts, great as those are.
Among our assets are happy memories, things we’ve learned along the way, and the satisfaction of accomplishments we could never have achieved without God’s help.
When we’ve lived long enough, we can know from personal experience that God really does keep His promises! As David wrote, “I have been young and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread” (Ps. 37:25 NASB).
As we age, a real source of satisfaction is sharing the wisdom we’ve gained from years of study and experience. Although not everyone is eager to hear what we have to offer, there are younger people who are open to the mentoring we can provide. What they need we can give.
Aging can teach us that material things and sinful pleasures do not really satisfy, but Christ does. We come to appreciate the Scriptures more. Passages we learned as children take on a richer, deeper meaning. Like Paul we can learn to say, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain….having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better” (Phil. 1:21 23b).
What would it be like to experience aging without Christ? Our resurrection hope not only takes the sting out of death but also out of aging. It isn’t just a matter of aging gracefully, but of aging gratefully in the grace of God.
