<\/p>\n
\u201cThe silver-haired head is a crown of glory, if it is found in the way of righteousness\u201d (Proverbs 16:31).<\/p>\n
IN THE LATER YEARS OF LIFE, OUR HEARTS CAN COME TO LOVE MANY THINGS ABOUT GOD THAT OUR MINDS LEARNED IN OUR YOUTH. In our journey toward God, experience may enable us to appreciate Job\u2019s statement: \u201cI have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You\u201d (Job 42:5). It is only the passing of years, for most of us, that can turn our knowledge of the facts into gentle understanding and affectionate wisdom. In old age, we are better able to see just how true the truth really is.<\/p>\n
To begin with, there is a difference between knowing God in theory and knowing Him in experience. If the choice is between truth and falsehood, it\u2019s obviously a good thing to be taught the truth about God when we are young. But it\u2019s only when we\u2019ve had a few years to work with the truth during life\u2019s ups and downs that we really appreciate the value of what we learned about God in our earlier years. It\u2019s in the actual living of life that we come to cherish the truthfulness of God\u2019s truth. David said, \u201cOh, taste and see that the Lord is good\u201d (Psalm 34:8). The longer we have lived with God, the sweeter His goodness will begin to taste.<\/p>\n
But there is something else about age. As F. W. Robertson said, \u201cManhood in the Christian life is a better thing than boyhood, because it is a riper thing; and old age ought to be a brighter and a calmer, and a more serene thing than manhood.\u201d One reason for this serenity is that, normally, the older Christian is closer to reaching heaven than the younger is. And the closer we get to our true home, the more we cherish the love of our Father who waits for us there. It was not Paul the young man, but Paul \u201cthe aged\u201d (Philemon 9), who wrote these words of hopeful love: \u201cFinally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but to all who have loved His appearing\u201d (2 Timothy 4:6-8). As the years go by, the \u201csweetly solemn thought\u201d alluded to in Phoebe Cary\u2019s great hymn will fill our hearts more fully: \u201cOne sweetly solemn thought comes to me o\u2019er and o\u2019er: today I\u2019m nearer to my home than e\u2019er I\u2019ve been before.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOld age can love God better than a doctor of theology can\u201d (Bonaventure).<\/p>\n
Gary Henry \u2013 WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com<\/p>\n