November 27, 2018 – Click here to listen
Today is my birthday. I am amazed that I’m alive. My father, mother, and brother, all seemed to think I wouldn’t live to see 25, and yet I’ve outlived them all. What a strange feeling to be the last man standing in our little family. It’s ironic that young people eagerly look forward to each birthday such as finally becoming a teenager or reaching that highly coveted 21 years of age designation, but older people seem more inclined to dread each passing year, especially those with zeros in them.
I went and visited an African American man who lived on some property adjacent to mine several years ago. Some of my elderly neighbors had told me about him, stating that he was well over 100 years old and lived alone in a small cabin with no running water or electricity way back in the woods. As I drove up the dirt road leading into his yard, chickens were running for cover and I saw him chopping firewood. I went over and introduced myself and told him I was his neighbor.
He was friendly, and we talked for quite some time, primarily about how he had observed changes to the area during his lifetime. Finally, I got around to asking him how old he was. He looked at me with a smile and said he didn’t rightly know. As was the case in that era some folks who lived out in the country and were delivered by mid-wives were not issued birth certificates. He then told me that he didn’t really care and never thought about his age. I looked at his slender frame, leathery hands and sun wrinkled face and thought of what a great concept that was. He didn’t worry about getting old or what insurance actuaries said about life expectancy. He just got up each morning and went to work feeding his chickens, drawing some water from his well, slopping his hog, and chopping firewood. He had been married and outlived two wives and he told me that aside from his children who all lived in cities occasionally coming for a visit, he rarely had any visitors. He of course had no car. He had not been to church in some time because the neighbor who used to take him had died.
After a nice visit I left and smiled as I drove back over to my place. I thought of how it might feel not to know how old you are and to not even care. That is how heaven will be. Time will cease to exist. What a nice concept. I think it best that we all refuse to look at death looming over the horizon and just enjoy the time we are allotted. Though we were created to live forever, the time spent here is limited. Best to just keep enjoying it to the hilt and keep plugging away. We should run our race for the Lord and run it to win.
When our purpose here has been accomplished, off we’ll go to a new adventure that will never end.
The future is bright for those who love the Lord and focus on Him. Don’t worry if the years are flying by and you’re are getting older. It’s impossible to enjoy what you’ve been given if you are maniacally obsessed with gaining more.
Selah . . .
Isaiah 40:31
but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.