The Spice of Life

Scripture

The righteous flourish like the palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God. In old age they still produce fruit; they are always green and full of sap.
Psalm 92:12-14, NRSV

Quote

The key to staying fresh in old age is to be thankful to the LORD.
~Warren W. Wiersbe

All human can be divided into two categories: repentant and unrepentant or if you prefer, saved and lost or those who acknowledge God’s blessings and those who don’t. The Psalmist uses a rare Hebrew word in verse 6…The dullard cannot know, the stupid cannot understand this: though the wicked sprout like grass and all evildoers flourish, they are doomed to destruction forever. The word translated ‘dullard’ is ba’ar and it means beastial, brutish or stupid, like a beast. Humans do have beastial ways, you have no doubt heard phrases “Dumb as an ox,’ or ‘hardheaded as a mule’. Actually we find a synanoun of ba’ar in the same verse. The Hebrew word kes·ēl’ means stupid. The NASB reads like this…A senseless {ba’ar} man has no knowledge, Nor does a stupid {kes·ēl’} man understand this. What exactly is it that these brutish fools do not understand? The answer is in verse 5, they do not understand what the LORD has done. Most of them worship some aspect of His creation but they do not worship Him, nor give Him thanks.


Being a SENIOR ADULT, I found verse 14 very appealing…In old age they still produce fruit; they are always green and full of sap. The NLT reads, Even in old age they will still produce fruit; they will remain vital and green. I talked to my first pastor yesterday, his name is Martin Ray. He is 95 years old and sharp as a tack. He lives in Trussville, Alabama and Lord willing, I plan to visit him soon. Over and over, he told me, “Jack, the LORD is good and I am thankful.” His son who is a physician was with his children and grandchildren at the beach and they facetimed Bro. Ray, he told me all about it, he was thrilled to talk to his son and grandsons. I cannot understand why Americans cannot see that our freedom and prosperity has come from God’s gracious hand. I personally am overwhelmed with God’s goodness. Unfortunately, we have a lot of senseless and stupid people who refuse to acknowledge the LORD’s blessings. It literally breaks my heart.


I cannot speak for others, but as for myself, I want to remain vigorous. I do not want to lose my sap. I want to be fruitful and productive in my old age. Senior Adults have more to be thankful for because we have lived longer. God’s mercies are new and fresh everyday and we have seen more days–thus we have experienced more of God’s mercy. I woke up giving thanks Sunday morning. I was thrilled to get to worship at DBC and hear my son preach the gospel. I was very thankful to see and hear Doug and I sang my heart out duing the praise time. I gave thanks during the service and after the service. When I lay down last night, I gave thanks. Folks, God has been good to me; I don’t see how I could not be thankful. I agree with the Psalmist and with Dr. Wiersbe, it is good to give thanks to the LORD.


  • I have one prayer request: I shared this with my LCBS class a few weeks ago. I want to have a block party here at the office. A much smaller version than the one we do at DBC. It is basically the Billy Graham Matthew concept. I want to invite all my neighbors. I am thinking about hamburgers and drinks, perhaps some home made ice cream. I want you to pray for God to guide me and give me more confidence. I intended to do this last year and I kept procrastinating. Pray that I don’t make the same mistake twice.
  • Good news: I had a hard time hearing on Sunday. I missed a lot of what Joe David said–sometimes entire sentences, at other times just a word or two. David has ordered the listening kits, I think ten of them. If I don’t get a kit, I will have to move back to the front pew and sit in the center where I can hear. I don’t want to knock anyone else out of hearing but I am excited about this new technology and thankful that we have a solution.
  • Speaking of giving thanks: do you ever remember a summer like this one? Wow, what wonderful weather. We have had no droughts. Willard has sold a recond number of lawnmowers. I have cut grass every week. I don’t remember ever doing that before. I decided to let the yard here at the house go for a week and Lori came and mowed it: thank you sister.
  • LABOR DAY was great: we had fried okra and squash from the garden along with ribs, chicken, fried tators and mexican cornbread–Yum, yum!
  • Contributing to storm victims. I know we all want to help but many of us have serious doubts about the RED CROSS. We do have some options. I understand that Franklin Graham and Samaritan Purse are on the ground in Texas. We want to give but not to big organizations who spend it on overhead.
  • I rarely pull for Tennessee but did last night and they won. I don’t know how but they won. Maybe the ACC bunch will shut up for a week or two. A & M should have won and Tennessee should have lost–but that’s the way the old cookie crumbles.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *