Challenge Central: a CBC devotional
By: Laurie Korstanje
Remember being little, and Christmas couldn’t come fast enough?
How about waiting for that special birthday you know would bring a gift that you longed for? Sometimes it was so hard to wait.
“Time moves slower than molasses in January,” my father used to say.
We looked forward to turning 16 so we could learn to drive. We waited to be old enough to leave home, maybe go off to college, or just find employment and move into a first apartment.
As we age, a new phrase comes into our lexicon, “Slow down time. You’re moving too fast.”
We think in terms of decades when we look at our life. I know there are exceptions, but in general, it’s being a kid, then a teen, and then your twenties.
Your twenties are for finishing your education and possibly marriage. Your thirties for having families, buying homes. Your forties for raising those kids through their teenage years. “Lord, please give me strength to get through this.”
Your fifties bring a routine to life of working, looking toward retirement, and watching our children grow up and marry. Our sixties allow us to hopefully retire sooner than later, possibly watching grandchildren come into this world.
Then we hit our seventies and beyond. Our days are numbered here on Earth. The innocence of youth is that they will live forever.
Job 14:5: “Since his days are determined. The number of his months has been set by you. A limit is set which he cannot exceed.” (ESV)
Psalm 90:10: “The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years… So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
The fact that my husband turns 70 this year makes us ponder this more. What have we done in our lives? What have I done that I wish I hadn’t? What haven’t I done that I wish I had?
God does not want to squander our days in useless worry, materialism, and regrets, but rather keep our focus on Him and what He wants for us.
As I get older, I appreciate those that have gone on before. When my mom turned 80, I had a casual open house for her. All her friends from church came. When I look at pictures from that party, I realize all her friends have passed on, including my mom. They were special seniors; I admired them. They loved the Lord and lived out their faith by praying, visiting and caring.
I am sure this was how they lived throughout their lives. At a young age, we need to develop a habit of prayer, caring about, and helping people. Then it will become second nature to pray and minister to others.
I used to jokingly say, until I hit my 50s, “I wonder what I want to be when I grow up?”
You can say those things in the realm of careers and jobs, but at a young age, we need to be what God desires of us. Strive to be what He wants us to be.
Those precious seniors that we remember, I’m sure, did just that.
Isaiah 46:4: “Even to your old age, I am He, And even to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.” (NKJV)
