2 Timothy 4:7-8
GROWING OLD, LIKE TAXES, is a fact we all must face. Now, you’re not going to get me to declare when growing up stops and growing old starts. But there are some signs we can read along life’s journey that suggest we are entering that inevitable period of transition.
Physically, the aging “bod” puts on the brakes. You begin to huff and puff when you used to rip and zip. You prefer to sit more than stand . . . to watch more than to do. Mentally, the aging brain longs for relief. You can’t remember like you used to. Emotionally, you undergo strange fears and feelings you once swore would “never occur in me.”
All of this is worsened by the memory of those days when you felt very efficient, capable, needed, and fulfilled. As you consider the mirror, you’re forced to admit that the fingers of age have begun to scratch their marks upon your house of clay . . . and it’s hard to believe your twilight years could be of any worth.
How destructive such thoughts can be! How quickly such thinking can sentence you to the prison cell of self-pity surrounded by the four bleak walls of doubt, depression, uselessness, and grief.
Instead, be encouraged by Paul’s words as he testified about the value of remaining faithful all the way to the end:
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits me—the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of his return.
2 TIMOTHY 4:7–8
Whether you’re in your fifties or eighties, please remember the race God has called you to run. What awaits you is far more valuable than anything you could possibly attain or receive during your life on this planet. Don’t quit running. Keep your focus on the prize—the crown that Christ Jesus Himself will award to you in that day when you stand fully whole and perfectly blameless before Him. In the meantime, live it up and kick it into high gear.
Has God worked in your life in a significant way through Chuck Swindoll and the ministry of Insight for Living? Whatever your story, we’d love for you to tell it to us! Psalm 9:11 tells us to “declare among the peoples His deeds” so others can be encouraged. Submit your story.
Devotional content taken from Good Morning, Lord . . . Can We Talk? by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 2018. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a division of Tyndale House Ministries. All rights reserved. The full devotional can be purchased at tyndale.com.
