It isn’t just wine that gets better with age, sometimes life does, too …

Larry Lewis tells a story about an elderly gentleman who leaned over to kiss his aged wife good morning, only to hear her declare, “Don’t touch me! I’m dead!”

“What are you talking about? You’re fine. We’re both lying here talking to one another. You’re not dead!”

“Oh no, I’m dead. I’m sure of it.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because I woke up this morning and nothing hurts!”

Growing old is often a topic of humor for us, but we tend to tell stories that paint pictures of decay. For example, Tal Bonham and Jack Gulledge include the following in their treasury of senior adult stories …

A couple had been married for 50 years. “Things have really changed,” she said. “You used to sit very close to me.”

“Well, I can remedy that,” he said, moving next to her on the couch.

“And you used to hold me tight.”

“How’s that?” he asked as he gave her a hug.

“Do you remember you used to nudge my neck and nibble on my ear lobes?”

He jumped to his feet and left the room. “Where are you going?”

“I’ll be right back,” he said. “I’ve got to get my teeth!”

If you’re alive, you’re getting older by the minute! Our popular view of life is that all the great things happen while we’re young, and strong, and healthy, and everything fades as we age.

That isn’t what we often see in the Bible.

It’s true that the Bible has some grand stories of youth, such as young David felling Goliath. But the Bible also has a fair share of stories that show lives getting better with age. In God’s economy, sometimes our greatest moments come in our senior years, a time of life the Bible says can be wonderfully fruitful for the godly …

“Even in old age they will still produce fruit; they will remain vital and green,” Psalm 92:14.

The fruitfulness and vitality of senior lives are shown in BIG ways in the Bible. For example:

Moses certainly had an interesting life growing up as a prince of Egypt, but his murder of an Egyptian would result in his spending a big portion of his “prime” years just tending sheep. It wasn’t until he was about 80 years old that God would recruit Moses to lead Israel out of Egypt to the Promised Land, a task that would take another 40 years! God distinguished Moses when he was a senior adult, not when he was a young man.

Joseph’s life is punctuated by starts and stops. He started well, as a “favorite” of his parents, but that would spark jealousy among his brothers, who would throw him into a pit, then sell him into slavery. While Joseph would rise even in his slavery, he would be wrongly accused and sent to prison. It wasn’t until his more adult years that God would, again, lift him up, this time to be second in command in Egypt, and in position to help more people in his later days than in his younger.

Daniel was carted away to Babylon as a teen because he showed great promise, capable of serving in the king’s court. Writer Lori Hatcher captures how Daniel continued to be a fruitful servant of God in his senior years:

The chronology of Daniel’s life shows that he had been a faithful government servant for more than 70 years. During a regime change, his exemplary resume caught the eye of the incoming King Darius, who appointed him as one of three national governors. His jealous colleagues decided to off the elder statesman, but because he was above reproach, failed to find any “charge or fault” against him (Dan. 6:4). Determined to bring about his demise, they crafted a plan for religious persecution, convinced the unwitting king to sign it, and targeted Daniel for execution while he prayed in his room. Instead of throwing Daniel a well-deserved retirement dinner, King Darius wound up throwing Daniel in as the lions’ dinner.

Lions notwithstanding, Daniel’s commitment to integrity, devotion to the Lord, and unwavering faith make him a biblical hero worth studying. The Old Testament counterpart to the apostle John, God calls both men “beloved.” Five centuries apart, they wrote parallel and complementary end times prophecies that give us fascinating and frightening glimpses into the future. Most important, however, a study of the book of Daniel gives us a powerful example for how to live righteously in a society that does not honor God.

Zachariah and Elizabeth experienced some of their greatest moments in their “old age.” Zechariah was a priest from the tribe of Levi who served the Lord during the reign of Herod in Judea. His wife, Elizabeth, was also a descendant of Aaron, and the Bible says they were godly, devout people (Luke 1:5–6). When the Bible begins their story, they are both old and childless (verse 7), although they had prayed for children. But it was in their old age that God would enable Elizabeth to have a child, a boy who would grow to be the man we call “John the Baptist.”

Paul was a highly educated, capable and successful religious leader for the first portion of his life; then known as Saul, he wasn’t anyone we would know about until he met Jesus, who would transform his life. It was Paul in his elder years who would be the greatest missionary for the church, and would be used by God to provide us with much of the New Testament.

It may sometimes be fun to laugh about growing old, but our idea of growing less useful over time is a wrong one. God routinely uses His senior saints for some of His greatest work. With age can come wisdom, and sometimes great harvests for God. Often it’s only after a life of discipleship and transforming work of the Holy Spirit that we are best positioned to bring our best for God!

That’s a message very foreign in today’s church, which tends to worship youth and young leaders. But if you watch those young leaders, often their finest contributions come with age!

Don’t underestimate the value of God’s senior saints, and what God wants to do for and in you in your elder years. For a deeper and encouraging look at the issue of growing old, let me recommend the book, “Rich in Years” (you can find my original review of the book by clicking here).

Scotty