Category: Young

Ancient Path

12/10/2012

As Christmas gets ever closer, we are inundated with sales fliers, marketing emails and television commercials about the latest, greatest and most updated version of myriads of things that are “only on sale for a limited time and just in time for the holidays” as the retail industry strives to end the calendar year well in the black.  Each advertisement shows beautiful, shining pictures of things in such a way that we begin to believe that we cannot live another moment without buying them. Toys that were played with in our youth (or, dare I say, by our parents and grandparents in their youth) have been re-released with a new updated look to either the item itself or to its packaging, or both.   The electronic devices – along with their many attachments - are clamored for by children young and old. And
for the adults, how did we ever live without the latest gizmos and gadgets that have been specifically designed to save us time yet usually only succeed in draining us of our hard-earned cash?   It’s enough to make your head spin.

Being enticed by the ‘latest and greatest’ is not something new.  Nearly from the beginning of mankind’s life on earth, he has been tempted by Satan to go his own way by some new idea or thing.   (Remember when Adam and Eve ate the fruit that was forbidden? See Genesis 3:6) And ever since mankind gave into temptation and fell out of right relationship with God, he has searched high and low for more new and improved ways to restore that relationship.

Jeremiah 6:16 “This is what the Lord says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.”

What is this ancient way? It is the oldest, truest way God has given to mankind when He afforded him the choice to obey Him and trust that He would protect and provide for him, or else reject God’s way and go off on his own misguided course.   Sadly, the wrong path was chosen.  To follow God’s right path for living was, and is, the only way to find peace and rest for the soul that we so long for.

So how do we get back onto this ancient path?

John 14:6 “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.”

There is no ‘new and improved’way to reach God. He still requires that we make a willing choice to trust Him in the provision He has made for us. And that provision to right relationship with Him is through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Which way will you choose? He’s waiting for you.

(For more information about forming a relationship with the Lord, see How
You Can Find Him located at the top of this page.)

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Whole-Life Coverage

12/4/2012

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As I bemoaned the sighting of additional gray hairs – how do they sprout up over night? – my hairstylist (who is in her early 20s) smiled at me and said, “Those aren’t gray hairs. They are wisdom hairs.”

I appreciated this new perspective on the evidence of the aging process and thought back to a time in my girlhood
when I could not wait to be middle-aged so I could be like the older ladies in my circle of influence who appeared, to my young eyes, to have so much wisdom about life things.   Looking in the mirror while my stylist chirped happily away as she trimmed my hair, I couldn’t help but wonder when I would feel as wise as I thought those women were from my youth.

Our society looks differently at graying men than they do of women.  Men get more ‘distinguished’ looking and are viewed as experienced, hence more trustworthy and valuable, in the workforce. Women, on the other hand, are viewed as merely old and worn out.

The Bible, however, tells us quite a different story.

Proverbs 16:31a “Gray hair is a crown of splendor;”

While we think of crowns as used solely for kings, queens and high priests, a crown is also indicative of the presence of honor and an elevated status.   Living to old age is an achievement and something to be celebrated.

Titus 2:4 “Then they [older women] can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.”

Women are to pass down the wisdom they have learned through their own life lessons to the younger women. Doing so sets them (and successive generations) up for greater success in their relationships with their husband, child(ren), and those in their community.    It also helps create a healthier society that is better able to take care of all of its citizens, including the elderly.

God, who knit me together in my mother’s womb with so much care (Psalm 139:13) has also promised to take care of me throughout my old age.

Isaiah 46:4 “Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.”

My ‘wisdom’ hairs are now viewed not only as a “crown of splendor,” but also as an encouragement to share my life’s lessons with younger women so that they are equipped for better success. And most importantly, these gray hairs, once looked at with such disdain, now act as a promise that the God, who cared for me at conception, will also care for me all the days of my life. What better assurance of
whole-life coverage could I have than that?

There is no better coverage you could have either. Why not start today? The choice is yours. He’s waiting for you.

(For more information about forming a relationship with the Lord, see How You Can Find Him located at the top of this page.)

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Ancient Path

Whole-Life Coverage

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