Growing Closer to Heaven
Wednesday, September 6, 2023
Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Ps. 90:12, NIV.
The summer is waning. Our garden has passed its peak, and I caught the first rustle of fallen brown, crisp leaves blown across the walk the other day. Today on my way to town I got stopped behind a school bus. How quickly seasons come and go.
But God has a time and purpose for everything, and although many fear the aging process, I like the words of Tryon Edwards: "Age does not depend upon years, but upon temperament and health. . . . Some men are born old, and some never grow so."
When I look in the mirror, I'm shocked with the person I'm becoming on the outside: the touch of gray, the sagging chin, a few more age spots, and deepened laugh lines. Inside I'm 25, looking forward to children, raising a family, and pursuing a career; or I'm 35, in the midst of the hustle and bustle of getting kids off to where they need to be and back home again; or maybe I'm 45, with a houseful of teenagers who are eagerly anticipating emancipation as much as I am. But 55 and beyond—is that really me?
So I find myself pondering, as did King Solomon, What is the meaning of life? I know "there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die" (Eccl. 3:1, 2, NIV). But more important, how shall I live my life so that I can have the heart of wisdom that Solomon's father talks about?
Jean-Paul Richter's words bring insight: "Like a morning dream, life becomes more and more bright the longer we live, and the reason of everything appears more clear. As winter strips the leaves from around us, so that we may see the distant regions they formerly concealed, so old age takes away our enjoyments, only to enlarge the prospect of the coming eternity."
And E. H. Chapin's thoughts give hope. "An aged Christian, with the snow of time upon his head, may remind us that those points of earth are whitest which are nearest to heaven."
Look forward to each new day, not as a sign of growing older, but for the incredible potential of growing closer to heaven and the person, Jesus Christ, who makes heaven possible.
The summer is waning. Our garden has passed its peak, and I caught the first rustle of fallen brown, crisp leaves blown across the walk the other day. Today on my way to town I got stopped behind a school bus. How quickly seasons come and go.
But God has a time and purpose for everything, and although many fear the aging process, I like the words of Tryon Edwards: "Age does not depend upon years, but upon temperament and health. . . . Some men are born old, and some never grow so."
When I look in the mirror, I'm shocked with the person I'm becoming on the outside: the touch of gray, the sagging chin, a few more age spots, and deepened laugh lines. Inside I'm 25, looking forward to children, raising a family, and pursuing a career; or I'm 35, in the midst of the hustle and bustle of getting kids off to where they need to be and back home again; or maybe I'm 45, with a houseful of teenagers who are eagerly anticipating emancipation as much as I am. But 55 and beyond—is that really me?
So I find myself pondering, as did King Solomon, What is the meaning of life? I know "there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die" (Eccl. 3:1, 2, NIV). But more important, how shall I live my life so that I can have the heart of wisdom that Solomon's father talks about?
Jean-Paul Richter's words bring insight: "Like a morning dream, life becomes more and more bright the longer we live, and the reason of everything appears more clear. As winter strips the leaves from around us, so that we may see the distant regions they formerly concealed, so old age takes away our enjoyments, only to enlarge the prospect of the coming eternity."
And E. H. Chapin's thoughts give hope. "An aged Christian, with the snow of time upon his head, may remind us that those points of earth are whitest which are nearest to heaven."
Look forward to each new day, not as a sign of growing older, but for the incredible potential of growing closer to heaven and the person, Jesus Christ, who makes heaven possible.
Used by permission of Health Ministries, North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists.
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