Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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The Aging Process
Psalm 71:1-24
Do not cast me off in the time of old age; do not forsake me when my strength fails.(Psalms 71:9)
I was having breakfast with a friend who had recently celebrated his 60th birthday. We discussed the “trauma” of the number 6 being the first digit in his age and all that the age of 60 implies (retirement, social security, etc.). We also pondered the fact that he felt so much younger than such a “large” number would seem to indicate.
Then the conversation turned to the lessons, joys, and blessings he’d found in living those 60 years, and he said, “You know, it isn’t really that bad. In fact, it’s pretty exciting.” The lessons of the past had brought a change in how he viewed the present.
Such is the aging process. We learn from our past in order to live in our present—a lesson reflected on by the psalmist: “For You are my hope, O Lord God; You are my trust from my youth” (Ps. 71:5). He continued, “By You I have been upheld from birth; You are He who took me out of my mother’s womb. My praise shall be continually of You” (v.6). As the psalmist looked back, he clearly saw the faithfulness of God. With confidence in that faithfulness, he could face the future and its uncertainties—and so can we.
May we say with the psalmist, “I will praise You—and Your faithfulness, O my God!” (v.22).
PRAYER
Lord thank you for the gift of age and help me to live fruitfully. Amen.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
The Lord's guiding hand will be with us till the very end.
Christian Education Forum, Diocese of NAE of the Mar Thoma Church

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