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Archives: December 2009
Bible things...
Archives: December 2009
How old?
By Liza Hoeksma
Our society can have a bit of a weird attitude to age. Too young and it can be hard to get your voice heard (what could a teenager possibly know about anything?) Too old and people can overlook you (over fifty and you’re obviously past it).
If we’re not careful we can let these prejudices creep into our minds too so let’s look at two characters in the Bible who remind us how God sees age. Or perhaps how he doesn’t.
At this time of year we think a lot about the birth of Jesus and I love how two of the central characters at the start of the story are from these two groups who often get overlooked by society – the young teenagers and the pensioners! Mary, the mother of Jesus was probably about 13 when she was visited by an angel to let her know she was going to have a baby. Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist, who we also read about in Luke1, was at the other end of the spectrum and was probably over 60.
Let’s start with Mary. Obviously in their culture it wasn’t as weird for a 13 year old to be engaged as it would be for us now. That said, I’m sure there would be a few people who would have something to say about God using someone so young to do something so significant. Mary gave birth to and mothered God’s own son. That would be a pretty tall order for a woman who was experienced in bringing up kids, or had a lot of life experience, let alone a teenager who wasn’t even yet married. But as we’ve heard so many times, God saw something in Mary that made him choose her – her willing heart. She found favour with God because she was happy to say that she was just the Lord’s servant and was willing to do whatever he asked her to (Luke 1 v38). What God entrusted her with was a huge responsibility. Mary could have had serious reservations about what being pregnant would mean for her reputation, her family and her intended husband. But she didn’t. She was only concerned with doing what God asked her to do – what an amazing attitude! Her passion for God was the thing that qualified her – her age wasn’t an issue. Later in the New Testament we read Paul’s words to Timothy about youth and it would seem this was the way Mary lived her life:
Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.
1 Timothy 4 v12
Need any more inspiration about what you can achieve before you hit 20? Hugh Evans is a Christian from Australian who started his humanitarian work at the age of just 14 working as an Ambassador for World Vision. Amongst many other achievements since then he set up the Oaktree Foundation when he was just 19, which enables over 40,000 young people in the developing world to get an education they would otherwise miss out on.
So that’s a real encouragement that God can use us when we’re young but what about if we don’t see God do something incredible in our teenage years?
Is that it? Have we missed the boat? Do we give up and resign ourselves to an ‘ordinary’ life until we die?
Getting older can be talked about so negatively but we need to start seeing the whole of our lives as an offering to God, not just our teenage years and perhaps a bit of our twenties.
Elizabeth is a great example of someone who stuck the distance with God. She had always followed what God wanted her to do but Elizabeth hadn’t been able to have a baby. In those times, that was considered to be a sign that God was unhappy with someone but the Bible is really clear that wasn’t the case here (v6).
Elizabeth had felt the disgrace of not having a child (Luke 1 v45) but she hadn’t let it make her heart bitter. She didn’t blame God but carried on loving and serving him. Which meant that when the time was right, six months before Mary became pregnant with Jesus, Elizabeth was also trusted with something special.
She became pregnant in her old age and went on to give birth to John the Baptist of whom Jesus said "I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist." (Matthew 11v11)
If Elizabeth had grown bitter during her years of wanting a child, she wouldn’t have been in the right place for God to use her. If she’d complained that while others were bearing children from their teenage years, God had clearly forgotten her and had no plans to use her she might have missed the great plans God did have for her.
Two of the most inspiring people I know are a couple who ‘retired’ many years ago and have still been serving the Lord flat out ever since. As they quickly approach 80 they show no signs of slowing down, they minister to and counsel countless people and are such a huge blessing to our church. We desperately need their wisdom and their years of walking with the Lord. As Psalm 92 (v12-14) says:
The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,
they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;
planted in the house of the LORD,
they will flourish in the courts of our God.
They will still bear fruit in old age,
they will stay fresh and green,
If we walk with the Lord we too can be bearing fruit no matter how old we are. I don’t know about you but I want my life to count. I want to be open and available to God to use me at any age, any life stage and in any way he wants.
As we see from Mary and Elizabeth the main thing we need to do at any age is trust in God and walk closely with him, trusting that if we offer ourselves to him he will use us to his plans.
About the writer
Liza is a writer who works part-time for Soul Survivor. She loves all things Christmas especially the mulled wine, the Carols, the fairy lights and the fact she still gets a stocking full of treats on Christmas morning despite being 33!
About the photo
The photo is taken from Flickr, by a user called vintagedept and is used here under a Creative Commons License, of which we're grateful.
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