THE WORD FOR TODAY (Monday, 11 January 2016

Growing Older and Better

'I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.' Psalm 118:17 NKJV

Today people are living longer and enjoying better health. Given that fact, it would be wise to glean from their wisdom and value their talent. You may have noticed that television advertisers are targeting younger and younger people. Why? After all, isn’t a tube of toothpaste sold to an eighty-year-old just as profitable as one pitched to a kid? The idea that life should be winding down at sixty or seventy makes no sense. Immanuel Kant wrote one of his best philosophical works at the age of seventy-four. Verdi penned his classic ‘Ave Maria’ at eighty-five. Alfred Lord Tennyson was eighty when he wrote ‘Crossing the Bar’. Michelangelo was eighty-seven when he completed the Pietá, his greatest work of art. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes set down some of his most brilliant opinions at the age of ninety. Titian painted his famous Allegory of the Battle of Lepanto at the age of ninety-eight. President Ronald Reagan was one of the most powerful men in the world at seventy-five. Noah was over six hundred years old when he came out of the ark and helped to start the world all over again. David the psalmist wrote two things worth noting about getting older: (1) ‘ They shall still bear fruit in old age ’ (Psalm 92:14 NKJV); (2) ‘ I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.’ When the spotlight moves from you to the younger generation, don’t be discouraged. Just serve faithfully in the shadows, knowing that one day God will reward you openly for all you have done.

SoulFood: Lev 18-20, Luke 2:16-32, Ps 71:1-16, Prov 2:1-2

The Word for Today is authored by Bob and Debby Gass and published under licence from UCB Internationa