greenbaggins
Puritan Board Doctor
The recent posts on how old people are got me to thinking about a subject near and dear to my heart: growing older.
I am sick and tired of the culture's view of old age as losing everything of value. It's really ridiculous how much people try to deceive themselves into thinking that they can put off death by pursuing youth. I can hardly think of anything that is made more of an idol in our culture than youth and image (except maybe sex, which, of course, goes right along with the idolatry of youth).
The Bible has a rich, warm, inviting look at old age. Proverbs 16:31 says "Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life." When younger pastors are to exhort older men, it is in a different way, in the way of encouraging, not in the way of command. This is part of the obedience we owe to the fifth commandment, not to mention the obedience we owe to the Ancient of Days.
I have noticed that older people become more extreme. If they are wise, they keep on becoming more wise, adding wisdom to wisdom. If they are foolish, they become more foolish over time. Regardless of this fact, old age is not something to abhor and avoid with every fiber of our being. It something in which we can rejoice, as we become closer to God, more holy in our lives, holding less and less to sin, and more and more hungry for righteousness.
There is one category of old people I do not respect at all. It is perhaps the most foolish form of old age. It is that category of people who think that because they are old, that therefore they will stop learning and rest on their laurels. Such people ask for an earlier death. The only way to go into eternity is in striving might and main to one's last breath to serve the Lord. I intend to die in the saddle if I possibly can. I don't believe in the retirement of indolence. If one retires from one profession, it should be to serve the Lord better and more wholly.
And this post is very appropriate on the Lord's Day, since our Sabbath rest still awaits us, the people of God. We don't rest until we're dead. That's our rest.
I am sick and tired of the culture's view of old age as losing everything of value. It's really ridiculous how much people try to deceive themselves into thinking that they can put off death by pursuing youth. I can hardly think of anything that is made more of an idol in our culture than youth and image (except maybe sex, which, of course, goes right along with the idolatry of youth).
The Bible has a rich, warm, inviting look at old age. Proverbs 16:31 says "Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life." When younger pastors are to exhort older men, it is in a different way, in the way of encouraging, not in the way of command. This is part of the obedience we owe to the fifth commandment, not to mention the obedience we owe to the Ancient of Days.
I have noticed that older people become more extreme. If they are wise, they keep on becoming more wise, adding wisdom to wisdom. If they are foolish, they become more foolish over time. Regardless of this fact, old age is not something to abhor and avoid with every fiber of our being. It something in which we can rejoice, as we become closer to God, more holy in our lives, holding less and less to sin, and more and more hungry for righteousness.
There is one category of old people I do not respect at all. It is perhaps the most foolish form of old age. It is that category of people who think that because they are old, that therefore they will stop learning and rest on their laurels. Such people ask for an earlier death. The only way to go into eternity is in striving might and main to one's last breath to serve the Lord. I intend to die in the saddle if I possibly can. I don't believe in the retirement of indolence. If one retires from one profession, it should be to serve the Lord better and more wholly.
And this post is very appropriate on the Lord's Day, since our Sabbath rest still awaits us, the people of God. We don't rest until we're dead. That's our rest.