We Are Never Too Old To Serve God

It's not surprising that all of us seniors recognize our advancing age. We need only to climb a flight of stairs, or to move an ottoman, or (gads) to look into a mirror to realize that we're no longer that twenty-year-old youth able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. That's normal, though, and perfectly okay. But we're mistaken to wrongly accept the notion that our best years are behind us. Lest we forget, Ronald Reagan became President of the United States at the age of seventy-two and served brilliantly in that office for two full terms. And we need only to look at the Apostle John to realize that we are never too old to be of service to God; and perhaps have yet to contribute our most awesome accomplishment as a Christian for His purposes. So let's consider the Apostle John's ministry in his later years as proof that we senior Christians, despite our age and adverse circumstances, are never forgotten or overlooked by God for future service due to our age. The Apostle John, as you know, was the young fisherman that faithfully followed Christ as a disciple throughout His three-year public ministry and then later wrote the Fourth Gospel and three Epistles in the New Testament that bear his name. In other words, John was extremely fruitful throughout his lifetime. So when Rome banished him to the remote island of Patmos for his testimony of Christ, the ninety-year John could have easily considered his work and ministry finished. But that wasn't God's intention for the aged Apostle because he was chosen to record and distribute the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Okay, now think about that a moment. This was not teenager John who first became a Christian; this was old man John who was long past what might be considered a practical age for such an arduous task as to record the most complete future installment of God ever beheld by a man. In fact, we might regard John as an unlikely selection for the same reason we tend to disqualify ourselves. Given our age group, where strength of body and mind has been declining for decades, it just seems improbable that our most rewarding years to serve God are yet to come. Nonetheless, if we refute the cunning devices of the devil and the vain philosophies of our culture, and instead make ourselves wholeheartedly available to the Lord to accomplish His own wise and holy ends, we are correct to anticipate future rewarding years of service. An elderly Christian woman once said to me, "My body has aged, but the Spirit inside me has not aged." She surely got it. That the Holy Spirit is not subject to whatever the ravages of time have done to our flesh so He will continue to empower us to exalt the glory of Jesus Christ as long as we have breathe. How God will manifest this in us is known only to Him. But rest assured by the witness of others that a failing body has nothing to do with Spiritual matters; and that each of us seniors, regardless of our age, are still amply qualified as a servant of God who still has more to offer Christ and others. "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Ephesians 2:20). Dear Senior, if you've been seating in the stands wrongly convinced that you're too old to serve God, confess it immediately. Offer yourself back to our Heavenly Father and allow Him to complete all that He's ordained for you. Jesus will be blessed, others will be blessed, and you will be blessed by your faithfulness. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9127461