I have a birthday this week. I turn the ripe old age of 56. Psalm 39:16 tells us that our days are ordained by God even before we were born. I realize that the life expectancy in our country has gone up quite a bit since I was born. I think they project men to live to near 80 years old now. That means I have 24 years left. That doesn’t sound like a lot, nor are those 24 years actually promised. So what should age mean to those of us who are getting older? Retirement, the easy life, golf courses, homes in Florida and rocking chairs I suppose is what many people think when they reach a certain age, but I am not sure that is what Scripture teaches. Now, do I think that as we age we will slow down, work at a job less and spend more time in our leisure pursuits, sure, but what else is there for us? Scripture teaches us that as we age we should be looking for ways to pass down our wisdom to the next generation. We should never retire from serving, teaching, loving and projecting the love of God. We may finally have reached an age where we have something useful to tell people. We are able to reflect upon our lives and see how God has been involved, teaching, protecting, guiding and leading. There are numerous places in the Bible where markers were left so the next generation would know that God did something here. They were markers to illustrate God’s power and presence. As we get older, we become human markers of what God has done. Don’t keep them a secret!
