THE RIGHTEOUS WILL FLOURISH, EVEN IN OLD AGE

Today is the last day of a week-long visit from my 90 year old mother in law and I’m sad.  Mom and I have always had a special relationship that stems from our faith.  We are bound by a shared faith in Jesus, although our expression of that faith differs in many ways.  Part of my sadness stems from Mom’s lack of assurance that faith in the goodness of Jesus, and not OUR OWN goodness, guarantees us a place in heaven.  As a result of her lack of assurance, Mom’s inability to DO anything worthwhile (as she sees it) in this stage of life, makes heaven an uncertainty she feels powerless now to work at changing.  She’s often said she’s counting on my prayers after her death to ultimately make heaven a reality for her. 

I have no such uncertainty about heaven.  

When Jesus says in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life”, I believe Him.  I already HAVE eternal life which Jesus made possible for me.  Heaven is my destiny, not because of my goodness but because of His.

And when Jesus says in John 14:1-3, “Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God; trust also in me.  In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I am going there to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am”, I believe that Jesus means to come for me and take me to be with Him – not at some future time after I’ve spent a while in purgatory, but immediately upon my death. 

The Apostle Paul said that when we are “absent from the body”, we are “present with the Lord”, and I believe that!   There is no holding place after this life and before heaven.  I wish Mom could know that assurance.  It would give her hope and rest.

Instead, Mom sees herself here in this life as having no hope and no purpose.  Her speech is peppered with a longing for those things she can no longer do and lament over a world she no longer understands and in which she seems not to fit.  

Last night I was looking for a particular verse in the Psalms when I came across this from Psalm 92:12-15:

“The righteous will flourish like a palm tree. . . . 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, proclaiming, “The Lord is upright; He is my Rock. . . . “

When the Psalmist says “the righteous will flourish like a palm tree”, he doesn’t mean righteousness based on perceived goodness, as man accesses it.  The Bible teaches that the only way a person can be considered righteous is because Jesus has declared him so, not on the basis of works, but on the basis of His grace, through faith in His person and His work on the cross.  (Ephesians 2:8-9)

What an encouragement it is, what hope it gives to read that the righteous will STILL bear fruit in old age, staying fresh and green and declaring that the Lord is their rock!  They will NOT dry up and be useless, they will FLOURISH!  

And they still have purpose:

Ps. 71:18  “Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your might to all who are to come.”

Their purpose is to declare the Lord’s power until they go home to heaven.  To never stop speaking of Him - of His faithfulness, His grace, His goodness, His power to change us – to the next generation.  What a legacy we have - to pass on to those behind us the power of the Lord.

One of my favorite passages is from the book of Habakkuk in the Old Testament.  It’s written to Israel and it speaks of judgment.  However, these verses which come at the end of chapter 3, could be applied, I think, to aging. They encourage us, when we are no longer able to do what we used to, to hold onto Jesus as our source of joy.

“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”

Senior saint – you may not FEEL fruitful and productive – but the truth is, you CAN BE.  As a matter of fact, you can FLOURISH, if you will invest your time and your words in passing along to the next generation what you know about the Lord your Savior, the One in whom you rejoice.

How? 

Refuse to simply sit on the sidelines, assuming your life is over. 

Get to know the younger generation in your church, and in your family. 

Listen when they talk about their lives. 

Ask them questions.

Tell them you’d like to pray for them and ask them how you can pray.

Pray for their children too. 

Follow up when you see them again. 

Give them a call and see how they’re doing. 

Out of those conversations, you will find many opportunities to talk about the Lord and His power as He worked it out in your life and they’ll want to listen because you’ve taken an interest in them.  

Senior saint – rejoice in the hope of heaven that awaits you. 

Rejoice that you do still have a purpose!

Busy yourself with finding ways to encourage the next generation.  

You CAN flourish!