Celebrating
his 60th birthday, Dennis really changed his perspective on life— He used to
think people in their sixties were “old.” Then he started counting the number
of productive years he might have left and set the number at 10. He went along
with this dead-end kind of thinking until he remembered a very productive co-worker
who was 85. So he sought him out to ask what life after 60 was like. He told
him of some of the wonderful opportunities God had given him over the last 25 years.
The
apostle Paul, referring to himself as “aged” in Philemon 1:9,
really resonates with my own sense of aging: “Being such a one as Paul, the
aged, . . . I appeal to you for my son Onesimus” (vv.9-10). Paul was
asking Philemon to take back his runaway servant Onesimus. Some scholars
believe Paul was in his late forties or early fifties when he wrote
this—certainly not a senior citizen by today’s standards. But life expectancy
in those days was much shorter. Yet despite awareness of his mature years, Paul
went on to serve the Lord for several more years.
While we
may experience physical or other kinds of limitations, what really matters is
that we continue doing what we can for God until He calls us Home.
God can
use you at any age—if you are willing. (RBC)
