Passing On What We Have Been Given

I watched a talk recently of someone holding up a tape measure 100 centimetres long. In his other hand, he held a pair of scissors. He was reflecting on his age and pondering how much of his life he had left. Of course, none of us knows when we will die but, having turned 50 this year, if I was standing there with a tape measure and scissors, I could immediately cut off the first 50 centimetres as time that’s already passed. I could reasonably cut the last 20 cm off too – I’ve consumed far too much cheese and chocolate to bank on living after 80, I reckon. That gives me 30 cm (or 30 years) left. And, of course, the reality is that the fragment of life I’m left holding in my hands could be much, much shorter.

Once we’re confronted with this reality, the question then is: ‘What are we going to do with it?’ We’re conditioned into thinking of our last years as being a time of retirement – we save up in our pensions, plan to relax, look to scale back our responsibilities. But the Bible does not say that we should retire from doing things for God. In fact, to do so would be to completely lose the any sense of purpose in our lives. We were created to worship God. Isaiah 43 verse 21 talks about ‘the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.' Of course, that means worshipping God through prayer and music but it also means worshipping him through how we use our time, money, and talents. If that fragment of life I’ve got left in my hands is small, I want it to be used 100% for Him. Please challenge me if you see me shrinking back and reducing my life to a diminished version of the plans he has for me.

On New Wine, Patrick and I both felt that there were several moments when God seemed to be pointing out the role and value of everyone in the church – young and old, male and female. In Acts Chapter 2, we are given an account of the Holy Spirit coming at Pentecost. When Peter addresses the crowd, he feels he needs to explain what’s happening. He says,

These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

'In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.’

We are blessed with so many people in our church who serve and contribute and live lives fully devoted to God so as we open ourselves up more and more to what the Holy Spirit wants to say to us and do through us, let’s be ready for those prophecies, visions, and dreams. And in the same way that we might seek to provide for our children financially (2 Cor 12:14), let’s look at ways that we can provide for them and support them spiritually through the example we set, our prayers, and our undiminishing mindset of worshipping a God ‘who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.'