The Blessing of Life Itself
Life is a gift from God and we should consider every day that He gives us to be precious.
Growing older is really a process of losing... our hair, our teeth, our friends, our health, our mobility... But we never lose our God. We belong to Him and He has promised to be with us always. He says to us... 'Never will I leave you: never will I forsake you.' Hebrews 13:5
The Blessing of Knowing we've been put Right with God
Is there really anything better than this... to know that we've been forgiven... to know that we're His... that we're clothed in the righteousness of our Lord Jesus... And as such we're positionally perfect in God's sight. '..since we have been justified through faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.' Romans 5:1
The Blessing of Continuing in our Relationship with God
Maybe as we grow older our hearing won't be so good and our eyesight will probably have deteriorated, yet we'll still have the privilege and opportunity to pray. The gift of prayer is so precious, let's not neglect it. Communication is the vehicle of relationship and we can be sure that He wants to hear from us even more than we want to speak to Him. 'Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances.' 1 Thessalonians 5:16
The Blessing of Treasured Memories
I really do believe that maintaining a grateful memory is a spiritual art. Life is hard and we'll all have had sadnesses and disappointments in our past. But we really can enjoy reflecting upon all the good things the Lord has done for us over the years. '...whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.' Philippians 4:8
The Blessing of Adversity
Discipleship is a lifelong process of maturing in Christ. And therefore just because we're older doesn't mean we're exempt from the trials and tribulations of life. In fact, as we grow older some of these seem to intensify! But we know that God has our well-being at heart and our quest for holiness should be the lifelong goal of every Christian. 'Count it all joy, my brothers (and sisters) when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.' James 1:2
The Blessing of Encouraging Others
As we grow older, hopefully we grow wiser and more spiritually discerning. And in doing so we're in an increasingly better position to encourage others. This is because we should be able to reflect upon many, many years of the Lord's faithfulness to us. 'Encourage one another daily..' Hebrews 3:18
The Blessing of Giving
The Lord reminds us that there's more joy in giving than in receiving and although as Believers we should be giving financially as much as we can to the work of the gospel, we can give in other ways too. For example, we can show our care for others by giving our time. If reasonably fit, older Christians need never be lonely. There really is no reason why we can't phone a friend and suggest a coffee together. 'Let us not give up meeting together...' Hebrews 10:25
With grateful thanks to George Verwer of OM for his example and inspiration.
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