Scripture

Even in old age they will still produce fruit; they will remain vital and green.

~Psalm 92:14, NLT

Quote

Age is an issue of mind over matter: if you don’t mind, it don’t matter.

~Samuel Clements

I profiled the four members of Isaac’s family in the Sunday night’s message. This is probably the most dysfunctional family in the Bible: Isaac is a hypochondriac who has given in and given up. He is waiting to die and has no interest in anything other than his stomach and his bed. Rebekah is a conniving and manipulative woman who uses others to accomplish her goals. Esau is a big red neck and a heathen. He is a hedonist who lives for pleasure and does not take spiritual matters seriously. Jacob is a liar and a con-artist but he did have a deep longing to receive God’s blessing. Hopefully, we find ourselves in Jacob: messed up and deeply flawed but longing for God’s blessing. Isaac had given up on life: he had not stopped breathing but he had stopped living. A couple of Senior Adults cornered me after the service. “Those comments on Isaac stung a little,” they said, “We give a lot of thought to our next meal and our bed.” I told them, “So do I. All Senior Adults think about these two things.” That is one of the signs you are getting old, you can’t wait to get back in bed. I usually wake up at least an hour before I get up. It takes that long to psych myself up. But we cannot give in to our aches and pains or our desire for comfort. We have to keep pushing ourselves. When is the LORD going to leave us alone and let us be comfortable? Never, hopefully!

Old vines and trees produce fruit if they stay vital and green. Think of the Holy Spirit as the sap; as long as we are full of sap, we can bear fruit. Personally, my desire to be productive is greater than my desire to live. I ran into someone the other day who’s desire was to live to be 100. This is not my goal. I don’t know how many days, months or years I have; not many for sure, but my overriding concern is to be productive as long as I live. You are right, I cannot control this: God has the right and the power to take my health without taking my life. But my dream is to be fruitful in old age. We are still getting tomatoes out of our little green house. We had BLTs a couple of weeks ago and I checked the green house a few minutes ago and we have lots of green tomatoes and new blooms. That the good news, the bad news is that the tomatoes are small, smaller than an apple but they taste good. As tomatoes go, this fruit is not coming from a young vine. This tomato vine will be a year old in a couple of months. That is old for a tomato. Don’t give up like Isaac. He used his eye sight as an excuse and any Senior Adult can find an excuse. I can’t remember Bo Diddly or Jack Squat and I am pastoring {or trying} a church with the help of the Holy Spirit, my wife and some very good friends. It is true that I do not like traffic and it makes me anxious to drive in heavy traffic but God gives me grace. When I have to go to Huntsville or Birmingham, He helps me. I just don’t go on a whim anymore. I pray about it and if someone else is going that way, I might even ride with them. We make adjustments as we age but hopefully we do not throw in the towel. As long as I can be useful, someone will need me. May God give me the grace to accept whatever He sends.

Extra

I do appreciate your prayers and we did have one profession of faith at the service yesterday and I am thrilled. She may be coming to the POINT Sunday morning. Her first name is Donna. Pray for Donna to follow through. I guess we have adjusted to the weather: doesn’t seem all that cold anymore. We have to leave our water dripping but a water bill is better than a Plummer’s bill if you know what I mean. Have a great day and thanks for reading the blog.