The longer I live the older I grow. Really! The fact is that we do age. As we grow older we find we have more physical problems. The strength that we had as a youth is just not there. The eyes grow dim. Glasses help us to see better so we can still function. The hearing gets lower each year (I’m going to an audiologist next week). Sometimes when we can’t hear we shake our heads and act as if we do. The hands begin to tremble and we are not as steady as we once were. We lose our teeth and the dentures don’t hold as well so we can’t eat all the foods we’d like. We forget things (what was I going to say?) How many times have you walked into a room only to say "why am I here?" And we can’t remember things as we once did.

And yet there is much to be thankful for as we age. One thing is that we have a God who has not forgotten us. Listen to Isaiah as he says, "Even to your old age, I shall be the same, and even to your graying years I shall bear you! I have done it, and I shall carry you; and I will bear you, and I shall deliver you." (Isa. 46:4 NASB). We can be thankful that when we are older in years God’s care for us has not diminished. When all of our friends are leaving us, we still have our God. When our body fails us, He is near to help us.

Another thing we can be thankful for is the fact that God chose the older people to be His leaders. We know that elders implies one older in age. The older one is the more he has lived and experienced. God uses this wisdom to guide His church. 1 Timothy 3:1-7 gives us the qualifications for those men. Youth has much to offer, but age, yes, they have much to give as well.

Finally, the older we get the closer we are to the supreme goal everyone should have—being with Jesus. I realize the young die. I also realize the older folks must die. Paul, the aged man, looked forward to the time of his departure from this life. He knew something better awaited him. (2 Tim. 4:6-8). For all who have obeyed God and follow His teachings there is hope. The New Testament gives us all we need to do to become Christians, live our lives for God daily and to learn God’s goal for us.

We get older but we have a God who still cares. I find great comfort in that and hope you do as well.