Weekend Thought: The first day of rest of our lives

The story is told of a little girl who went to visit her great-grandmother. The elderly lady had hair that was white. Her face was covered with wrinkles. As the little girl looked at her, she asked: “Grandma, are you an old lady?” With a twinkle in her eyes, her great-grandmother said: “No love, not exactly; but I must say I’ve been young for a mighty long time.”

Old age is a strange thing. Very few of us actually think of ourselves as being old. As one 85-year-old put it: “To me, old age is always fifteen years older than I am.” And that’s about right.

When I was a teenager, anyone who was 40 years old seemed ancient. But when I reached the age of 40, I didn’t feel old. But those people in their mid-50s were really old. Now, as I have got older, those people are looking younger and younger all the time!

Whether we want to or not, every single one of us is getting older. There’s no getting around that fact. We live in a society that’s rapidly growing older and older. The life-span of an average UK male is 79.4 and for a woman 83.

You would think that most people would be excited about the prospect of living longer, but sadly, that’s not the case. A lot of people are afraid of getting old. I think Jonathan Swift was right when he said: “Every man desires to live long, but no man wants to be old.”

Yet, tomorrow is the first day of the rest of our lives. We all have a lot still to give. We can be assured that whatever our age we have the presence of the Lord by our side. He is our guide and strength.