Today is Saturday and Steven and I are taking a break from all the boxes to join our senior brothers and sisters for a special “Seniors Breakfast.” Among the many things that I am grateful for at my church are the “gray hairs” in our congregation. It is an honor to worship alongside saints who have weathered the storms of life and lived to tell about it. Proverbs 16:31 says, “Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained by a righteous life.”
The older saints are a blessing to the body. When we do not acknowledge what the Bible has to say about our older brothers and sisters we cut ourselves off from the grace of God that we would otherwise experience through them. Yes, it is true, they need us but I think we need them more.
Earlier this week, I stumbled across this devotional. I’m going to bring it to the breakfast and if there is an appropriate time I will share it. In the meantime, I thought I’d post it here.
___________________________________________________________________________
It takes a great deal of grace to grow old sweetly and beautifully. It is not possible to carry the alertness and energy of young manhood, into advanced years. Yet if we live wisely and rightly all our lives—old age ought to be the best of life. We certainly ought to make it beautiful and godly, for our life is not finished until we come to its very last day.
We ought to be wiser when we are old—than ever we have been in any former years. We ought to have learned by experience. We ought to be better in every way—with more of God’s peace in our hearts, with more gentleness and patience. We ought to have learned self-control, and to be better able to rule our own spirit. We ought to have more love, more joy, more thoughtfulness, to be more considerate, to have more humility.
Old age never should be the dregs of the years, the mere cinder of a burnt-out life. One may not have the vigor and strenuousness of the mid-years—but one should be every way truer, richer-hearted, holier. If the outward man has grown weaker and feebler—the inner man should have grown stronger and Christlier.
– J. R. Miller, “Devotional Hours with the Bible” 1908
Christina, I loved this post! thank you! For me it is very important to stop and ponder about the years to come, I want to grow old sweetly and beautiful.
I will copy this quote in my devotional notebook right now!
“If the outward man has grown weaker and feebler—the inner man should have grown stronger and Christlier.”
I am so happy you are happy!
Though we have some young families (at least younger than I) at SGBC, the majority of our congregation here in Anniston are retired, or seniors that still work. I am tremendously blessed to have such a treasure-trove of grace to draw from as we have saints who have sat under the preaching of some very well known grace preachers, for many years longer than I’ve been a Christian… and for some, have been walking in the truth of God’s grace for longer than I’ve been on the planet. That’s very humbling. I do delight in Christ through our seniors. What a blessing they are.
This is a beautiful post Christina and one that is my sincere prayer. I think the secret to having godly joy in the autumn years comes as a result of taking every though captive to the obedience of Christ when we are younger. External godliness without putting to death bad thinking habits will tell on us when we are old and feeble.