AGE!! What message does it bring to mind? What emotions does it evoke? What picture does it paint? What memories does it trigger? AGE, depending on what angle you view it, could be both menacing and comforting, threatening and assuring.
With AGE, houses, buildings, and equipment devaluate. On the other hand, gold, genuine jewelry, and parcels of land come at a premium as time goes by.
In the same token, WINE grows richer with AGE and so does TRUE LOVE. And, yes, may I add, TRUE FRIENDSHIP, too! But how do we regard AGE as it relates to us, human beings? Is AGE to be hidden? To be refused? Is it to be ignored? To be forgotten? Is AGE an enemy of those who wish to live forever young? Is it an opponent ready to pounce on us and knock us off balance? Is AGE an adversary bent on putting wrinkles on our forehead and writing lines on our face? Is it a bitter rival determined to make us unfit for public viewing? Is AGE a FORMIDABLE FOE relentless in seeking our demise, untiring in its effort to bring us down? To thwart, if not outright kill its mission, we devise plans to deceive AGE. (As if we could deceive AGE that easy!!) We delay, forestall, or put on hold its coming with the hope that AGE will soon be blotted out from the face of the earth.
We exercise, we detoxify, we dance the zumba, we undergo liposuctions, we go on a diet, etc. to stay young and look young.
I’m not against any or all of this. We need them to stay fit and healthy and beautiful. However, no matter where we are, no matter what we do, NO MATTER WHO WE ARE, AGE remains with us.
It prevails over our perceived intelligence and affluence. Age has no respect of person. Our status means nothing. Whether we like it or not, AGE is coming. We can never run away from it nor can we outrun it. AGE will finally overtake us. There is no place of hiding from this constant, incessant pursuer- OUR AGE. But don’t you know that AGE is one enemy we can embrace? “EMBRACE? That’s preposterous!” you may say.
I can almost hear you shouting at the top of your voice. Before you command the mountains to descend on me and bury me and my ABSURDITY under its rubbles, and before you hurl me into the deep blue sea, let me tell you this: AGE IS AN ADVERSARY WE CAN MAKE PEACE WITH. In the midst of a raging battle, when life seems to ebb away, AGE gently reminds us to rejoice. REJOICE? Yes, you heard me right, REJOICE! Why? Because AGE is a marker that shows we are nearing the demarcation line, that we are about to finish the race set before us. AGE brings to mind that REST is at hand and that we are going to a much better place in answer to our final call. And in that place, AGE WILL BE A THING OF THE PAST.
That’s THE GOOD LIFE! In Jesus and with Jesus, AGE DOESN’T MATTER ANYMORE! PSALM 23: 4 Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for YOU ARE WITH ME.