Strength for Today Devotional

""And now, behold, the Lord hath kept me alive, as He said, these forty and five years, even since the Lord spoke this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness; and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old." Joshua 14:10"

Caleb is another of my Jewish heroes. Instead of smiling, he might have scorned all of today's jokes about the "geriatric generation" of "senior citizens" 65 and over. One lie he would never have bought was that he was now "over the hill." How could he be, when he was yet climbing the hill of the will of God?! Long years before, he and Joshua had stood alone against Israel's cowardice in the face of God's enemies. Now he reminded Joshua of his simple secret to his "fountain of youth" - God was his life and he had "wholly followed the Lord my God" (v 8). Being 85 years of age couldn't stop him from climbing another mountain of faith for his Lord - the conquering of Hebron.

You and I cannot stop the years from sailing by and the wrinkles from settling in. But by determining that what goes into those years will be our day by day obedience in "wholly following the Lord," we can turn what the world calls "sunset years" into the sunrise of greater spiritual production that comes only through experience. Years of service and suffering develop compassion that can make us gentle counselors to the young and hurting. Time spent in finding pearls of truth in the Word can be turned into special moments of offering insight to the following generations. Where many "retirees" wind up only chasing a little white ball across fairways, or other pursuits to "kill time," the Calebs of today can redeem the time by witness and prayer. And that last one - prayer - is not the least but the greatest way the Lord can use us no matter how weak or frail. Be a Caleb. Don't view the passing years as a barrier, but a blessing!

My Prayer:

“My Father, I know better than to be conformed to the world in my morals. So help me not to be conformed to the world's view and use of older age. Let each year of my life - until the last year of my life - be used to bring you pleasure and glory."