Age

Somethings age better than others. Cheese and wine are treated well by age; most other things are not. As I get older, I am beginning to reflect on things of the past... things once taken for granted. Exercise and eating have taken on new importance to me. No longer can I eat whatever I want and still run and lift as I once did. No longer can I increase my exercise and lose weight. Age is the great dividend as it increases other things must decrease.

But, age is also forcing me to reflect on my generation and all that we had. We had it fairly good as a generation. We had good schools, low prices, lots of options, plenty of play and little consequence for our actions. All said, it was a great time to grow up. Now, as my age inches up and up, I have come to some conclusions that you would think I would have known by now.

For instances, as I get older so does everyone else. When I connect with someone on Facebook that I have not seen since high school I am shocked at how they have aged. You would think I would have figured that one out. I am sure they are just as shocked as to how much I have aged.

As I grow older so do my concerns. When I was younger I wore any injury or pain as a badge of honor. The more the pain the more I wanted to go on and continue to play or work. Now, every new pain brings a new concern of something serious.

Age makes no sense to me unless you understand it from a Biblical perspective. The older we get the close we draw to the end, unless you are one of those who rest in Jesus Christ. In Him, you may die to this life, but you will be raised in the end to spend eternity in heaven with Him. This makes sense out of the aging process; nothing else does. Not evolution, not atheism, not any other worldview... none of them provide even a remote explanation of the aging process like Christianity does.

Yes, I am fighting the aging process by running and lifting and watching what I eat, but I am still getting older. The other day I was running around our practice field at a pretty good clip, or so I thought, until one of our football players asked me if that was my warm up lap. My pride kicked in, and I increased my pace... until he disappeared into the weight room. I suspect that our generation will have the hardest time with this aging process because we have had so much. I pray that God will help me handle it with grace and love and be open to being used by Him until the very end. May that be your prayer as well. Blessings!