It will happen to all of us, and for all of us the work will continue
By Dean Collins
It happened to Moses. It happened to Joshua. If things go the way most of us would prefer, it will happen to us, too. We will get old.
I know 75-year-olds who look and act much younger. I have also known people in their 60s who looked and acted like they were 90. Biological age is different for everyone. But no matter how much exercise we get, how balanced our diet, or how well we manage stress, we will eventually get older. And we will begin to realize we have less time left to live on this side of eternity.
Advanced years, important work
Moses confessed to being old at 120. If any of us make it that long we will be in a tired and elite group! According to the Population Division of the United States, in 2021 there were 89,739 U.S. citizens who were 100 or older. Advances in technology and medicine have produced double the number of 100-year-olds in the last 20 years. And I expect most of them would agree with what Moses said in Deuteronomy: “I am no longer able to go out and come in.”
Joshua on the other hand still had some work to do when the Lord told him he was old and advanced in years. Joshua was likely somewhere in the 90-100 age range when God told him about the land waiting for him to occupy before he would see his last days. Joshua’s death was at age 110.
None of us has a promise of old age. We might receive the blessing of health and mental capacity to live into our 80s, 90s, or even become one of the elite 100-year-olds. If so, Scripture seems to say we will continue to have kingdom influence to spread and work to do as long as we have the abilities to do so.
Chapter 14 of Joshua tells us about the youngest leader of the four men who carried most of the leadership weight of the exodus from Egypt till the time of entering the Promised Land. Forty-five years earlier, Caleb had accompanied Joshua when the 12 men went to spy on Canaan. He was a few years younger than Joshua. Now at age 85, he had seen Aaron and Moses die before reaching this long-awaited moment. It was up to 90-something-year-old Joshua and 85-year-old Caleb to finish the job God had given Moses decades earlier.
A job for everyone, presence promised
Right before Jesus ascended into Heaven after his resurrection, he told his disciples to go into all the world and proclaim his gospel. They were instructed to make disciples of all nations, to baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and to teach everyone to observe all of the teachings of Jesus. Then Jesus left this parting comment: “I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Just as Joshua and Caleb were told, it seems Jesus has left all of us with some work to do. There is still more territory to claim. There are still many who have not heard the good news. And the job is big enough for all disciples of Jesus, not just some of us. The work of discipling continues even today. It doesn’t matter if you are in your 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s,60s, 70s, or even in your 80s or older. If you have life, then there is discipleship work to do.
Even if you have limitations on how much traveling or lifting you can manage, you can pray, encourage, listen, support, and love until you meet Jesus face-to-face. The promise God made to Joshua and Caleb was that he would go with them, and so they could advance confidently. That sounds a lot like the promise Jesus made to us. Before he died he promised us the gift of the Holy Spirit, and he has delivered on that promise. Before he ascended he restated that he would be with us till the end of the age.
So today, where ever you are and whatever your age, it is time to take some territory in the name of King Jesus!
Lord, forgive us for the moments we have acted as if your instructions were for someone else and not for us. Fill us with your Holy Spirit and point us in the direction of the people and the places where you want us to advance your kingdom today. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Your time with God’s Word
Joshua 13:1-7; Deuteronomy 31:2-3, 6; 34:7; Joshua 14:10-15 ESV
Photo by BBC Creative on Unsplash
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