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Are You Fifty Years Old?
“ARE YOU FIFTY YEARS OLD?”
I remember as a young student looking at my fourth-grade teacher and thinking she was probably sixty. Then, I found out she was thirty years old. When I began teaching in 1971, many of the students thought the same thing about me. While I was actually twenty-two years old, most actually thought I was closer to fifty. Age is surely a deceiving thing. When we are young, we think everyone is ancient, but when we begin to put on the years, we think everyone is younger. Hard to understand how Methuselah could have lived to be 969 years old.
We would be wise to think about what the Word of God has to say about getting older. The Scriptures describe how age impacted the lives of people both physically and spiritually. There is no doubt that there is a physical decline as we grow older. The body undergoes many physical changes as we age. Almost all of us have heard of the failing eyesight of Isaac, and how he was deceived into thinking that Jacob’s arms and neck were those of his son Esau after animal hairs were placed upon Jacob. Jacob died being blind and of old age. (Genesis 48) When David turned 70, his servants placed blankets upon him because he could not get warm. (I Kings 1) In Ecclesiastes 12, we read a very poetic description of getting older. We read of trembling hands, fear of heights, loss of teeth, and the inability to sleep.
The Bible also talks about declining spiritually as we get older. We know that when Solomon got older, his wives turned his heart after other gods. In the account of the prodigal son, we know that the older brother was filled with jealously, bitterness, and lack of respect for his father after he welcomed home the younger son.
There are many instances in which the faithfulness of older people is proclaimed in the Scriptures. Moses, at the end of his life, had a spirituality that was greater than earlier in his life. At 85 years of age, Caleb was still trusting in the hand of the Lord. Paul, as he approached death, penned the beautiful words in 2 Timothy 4:7, where he discussed fighting the good fight, finishing the race, and receiving the crown of righteousness. Abraham was described as being buried at a good old age. (Genesis 15:15)
What about us as we age? Will we be like Solomon and allow our lives to turn from God, or will we be like Abraham and die at a good old age and faithful to God? The choices we are making throughout our lives will help determine what we will do as we age.
Written by Larry Schneider
