A Pastor’s Perspective

“Seasoned Life” by Mike Hill, pastor of Calvary Chapel Aberdeen (mjhill@ida.net)

“We will sell no wine before its time,” Orson Welles persuaded viewers in a commercial from the 70’s.  Age is synonymous with quality when it comes to wine and cheese.  When applied to people, old age stirs up thoughts in my mind of Tim Conway shuffling across the stage in a Carol Burnett episode.  Recently, I read something in my human development class.  I discovered that when older individuals throughout our nation decide to join the work force, they often experience excessive discrimination.  The current worldview in the minds of many is that old age equals insignificance.  But what is God’s view of the elderly?

The wisest man said, “The silver-haired head is a crown of glory, if it is found in the way of righteousness” (Proverbs 16:31).  If a person is growing in the Lord, getting older is perceived as a positive experience in the Bible.  Old age is synonymous with quality and wisdom.  King Rehoboam was foolish to reject the wise advice of the old men who counseled his father, Solomon.  The kingdom became divided as a result (1Kings 12:1-17).

People who are in the twilight season of their lives are tempted to think, “My life is just about over.  It’s the last chapter.  I don’t have much purpose now.”  If you have ever felt that way, may I encourage you to remember a few things?  Moses didn’t start leading the two million-plus group of Israelites out of Egypt until he was eighty years old!  God still had work He wanted to accomplish through His aging servant.  Come to think of it, Moses never did officially retire.  He simply served the Lord ‘til he dropped.  And what about Abraham and Sarah?  They gave birth to their first child when people their age were great-grandparents (Romans 4:16-25).  Then there’s John the Apostle.  He was in his eighties or so when he received the Revelation while exiled on the island of Patmos (Revelation 1). 

God still uses seasoned lives.  A life that is seasoned by the Lord has much wisdom and biblical insight to share.  No wonder God ordained church leadership to be composed of elders and not adolescents.  Elders, though not necessarily elderly, are men who have been seasoned through marriage, family, and the trials of life (1Timothy 3; 1Peter 5).

Think God is done with you?  Think again!  Allow Him to season your life with grace (Colossians 4:6) so He may use you to lead others to the land of promises found in His Word, the Bible.