Are You Too Old To Serve?

I once read an interesting story about a man named "Harlan." Harlan was at the point in his life - age 65 - and was told it was time for him to retire. That's putting it mildly. Actually, so the story went, he was not so politely asked to move out to pasture. Harlan at first became angry, and took his first Social Security check and '-'" started his own business.

Now if the story ended there, I think we would still need an explanation. I'm re­minded by the attitudes toward Harlan of the attitudes brethren have many times toward senior citizens in the church. We so often talk down to them and move them aside as having gone past the time when they can have an active part in the growth of a congregation.

You see, this "Harlan's" full name was Harlan Sanders, the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken. Harlan's "retirement" years turned out to be his most produc­tive years. May we can take a lesson from this. Brethren, our older members have great things to offer the congregation. In fact, with the many years of submitting to God and resisting Satan, they may well be in their most productive years, at least so far as being productive in the church is concerned. But we must let them be productive.

Note: I once found the above article in a bul­letin from a congregation without the author's name. So I have no idea who wrote it - but it says a lot. It shows us that age does not necessarily keep us from service. I am reminded that Moses was 80 years old when God called him to deliver Is­rael from Egypt. Joshua was no "green kid" when he took up the reins of lead­ership upon the death of Moses. Caleb, at the age of 85, was still "asking for a mountain." Are our younger people useful in the church? By all means - but let us not be guilty of "putting out to pasture" those who have become a little older! – Bill Moseley

 

 

 

As a follow-up to the previous article, I thought it may be good to talk some more about the matter. Caleb is an ex­ample of faithfulness. When Israel con­quered Canaan he said, "... give me this mountain" (Josh. 14:12). He belonged to the tribe of Judah, and was chosen from that tribe as one of the 12 spies, and was one of the two who brought back a good report, the other being Joshua. He was 85 years old when he received his inheritance (Josh. 14:10). Years meant nothing to him, and he was always ready for the hardest tasks. There are three things about him that are impressive to us, and we can learn from them.

[1] He possessed "another spirit;" i.e., one different from the other spies (Num. 14:24). He loved and cheerfully obeyed God while they yielded grudg­ingly. He had faith; he saw all they saw and said, "it can be done." He was ac­tive and zealous, while they wanted to rest without the journey; the reward without the labor. Caleb was constant and persevering, while they were wa­vering. All through this activity, this "other spirit" stood out starkly in con­trast to the others. God still expects his people to possess spirits different than those of the cold, indifferent and uncar­ing.

[2] Another thing about Caleb is the impressive statement, "he wholly fol­lowed the Lord" (Josh. 14:9). He walked by God's rules; not by the trends of the times nor the feeling and emotion of others. Following the Lord was. his business; it was the leading work of his life. To the end of that life, he spent all and was spent. He fought until the victory was won. Caleb is a great ex­ample of a man who did not waver from the ways of God regardless of pressures that may have been brought to bear upon him.

[3] Then, he chose the difficult. This is seen in the statement that heads our arti­cle - "give me this mountain" (Josh. 14:12). He could have told the Lord, "I'm ready to retire; give me an easy place." We often hear, "where is the shortcut; the easy way? Where is the fishing best? Where can I travel all the time? How can I get to heaven without working at it?" But here was "this mountain," with its fenced cities and giants who made others look like grasshoppers - and yet that is what Caleb chose! Hesiod, the Greek poet once said, "in front of the successful the gods have put sweat." We need to learn that success comes only to those who persevere.

We ought not fail to mention the outcome of Caleb's faithfulness. His reward was not apparent at first. He stood with the minority; the people were ready to stone him (Num. 14:10). He had to wander for years with men guilty of rebellion against God. But the righteous today yet have to tolerate such people for a time. But one thing is sure - Caleb had the approval of his own conscience!

The difference between him and the oth­ers were that they were waiting to die in the wilderness while Caleb was waiting to die in the promised land. His faithful­ness has never been forgotten. Joshua remembers it and the Holy Spirit records it for all time. He gained the victory, and drove out the inhabitants of the land. He then took Hebron for his home, and set­tled down to his reward.

If we will possess the spirit that Caleb did; if we continually follow God regard­less of earthly consequences, we too can gain the promised reward. But heaven is a much greater land than Canaan! Let us look to Caleb; imitate his courage and faithfulness and surely God will not be forgetful of the blessings he has promised to those who will persevere to the end. - Bill Moseley

 

 

 

"When I was a child...," well, I acted like one (some folks think I still do). Like the time my parents left my brother and me in the car to drop in on relatives for "just a minute." Well, you know how long "a minute" can be to a kid cooped up in a car with nothing to do. Well, we found something to do. We had just been to the grocery store where Mom had purchased, among other things, a large sack of bananas. You guessed it ­we ate'em; every last one of them, we did! We could have lived through that (barely), but the Castor Oil that came later was quite another thing! Mom was a good Mom - but a lousy doctor. Now, whoever would give a kid castor oil af­ter eating a sack of bananas?

All of which reminds me of something we often overlook in our lives. We make gluttons of ourselves when it comes to over-indulging ourselves in things that satisfy the flesh. We haven't learned the meaning of "moderation," and some­times our spirituality suffers as a result. We just "enjoy" these things so much, never thinking about the "medicine" that must come later. But we ought not com­plain - we asked for it (cf. Rom. 6:23).

Constantly feeding our worldly foolish­ness while neglecting more important things is dangerous. Folks sure walked gingerly by my relatives' house for a few days - lots of banana peels on the sidewalk! Somehow these two things sort of remind me of each other. Let's be 'careful about our worldly indulgences ­the medicine won't taste good! – Bill Moseley