Old man in a hurry

As I write this on the closing day of December, I am conscious of God having spared me to live yet another year. It is a time for remembering how swiftly life passes. This is especially so as my birthday nearly coincides with the beginning of the new year, and this time it will be a big one - I turn 60 and move from my sixth decade into (gulp) my seventh!

The daily notes this morning brought home to me some words from the 39th Psalm: "Lord, make me to know my end, and what is the measure of my days, that I may know how frail I am." That was King David's meditation. The note writer could equally have quoted the more famous Psalm 90, written by Moses. In verse 12 this says, "Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom."

Perhaps these things had added point in those far-off days. It amazes me that, though not robust, I have survived to the threshold of 60 with few significant health problems until this past year. My ancient forebears would have struggled to reach 30. Before the Great Flood, our ancestors apparently managed extremely long lifespans, but these were dramatically reduced after the Deluge, when the effects of sin and rebellion against God really took hold. Who can imagine what effect it would make on your thinking to know that by age 15 your life might well be at least half over? You would have had to cram everything you wanted to do during your life on earth into a much shorter space.

Some say that young folk are in a hurry, but that the elderly are too. There may be an increasing sense that they will not live to see a longed-for achievement. Something must be done soon. The old person exerts his or her failing powers to hasten the time, and looks with eager desire for a result. Of course, a Christian believes that most of our existence takes place in eternity after this life is over. But even so we are placed in this life in order to fill it with service.

Old Simeon in Luke chapter 2 was waiting for Jesus Christ to come. He had received a supernatural promise that he would not die without seeing Him. Naturally there was nothing he personally could do to hasten that day, but at least he turned up in the Jerusalem temple at the prompting of the Holy Spirit. It was just as well he was obedient, for that very day Mary and Joseph brought Jesus at eight days old for His dedication ceremony. Simeon burst into song: "Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel" (Luke 2:29-32 NIV).

As one more year slips by, may God find us active and obedient, and watchful for Him to achieve things in us and through us.

Another year is dawning;
dear Master, let it be,
in working or in waiting,
another year for Thee;

Another year of service,
of witness for Thy love;
another year of training
for holier work above.

Frances Ridley Havergal, 1836-79

Belt up!

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The first ever Christmas marked the start of a very long interval between two world-shaking events. We are still living in that interval. It is the space between the first and second comings of the Lord Jesus Christ.

This gap seems overlong to those who yearn for Christ’s second coming to put an end to all the injustice in the world, which seems to go unpunished now. Yet, if we only knew it, there is no idleness or delay in heaven. We read in the Bible that Christ is praying continually for us to His heavenly Father. “Jesus ... is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them” (Hebrews 7:25).

There’s another biblical description of Jesus in this interval time which rarely gets a mention. In Revelation 1:13, John the Revelation-writer, exiled for his faith on an island, heard from behind him Jesus, commanding him to write messages. He turned to look at Him. What he saw was “someone ‘like a son of man’, dressed in a robe reaching down to His feet and with a golden sash round His chest”. This is the garb of a priest ready for action. The earthly priests in the Jerusalem Temple were busy people, always occupying their time with the ritual sacrifices and other duties they had to perform. Our great heavenly High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, is just as active.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon writes, “Well it is for us that [Jesus] has not ceased to fulfil his offices of love for us, since this is one of our choicest safeguards that he ever liveth to make intercession for us. Jesus is never an idler; his garments are never loose as though his offices were ended; he diligently carries on the cause of his people. A golden girdle, to manifest the superiority of his service, the royalty of his person, the dignity of his state, the glory of his reward. No longer does he cry out of the dust, but he pleads with authority, a King as well as a Priest.”

Our Lord is an example to us all. This year will present us with many opportunities but also many pitfalls. Are we dressed for service? The apostle Paul reminds us to “Stand firm, then, with the belt of truth buckled round your waist” (Ephesians 6:14). If we fail to equip ourselves in this way, we can be easily tangled up with the things of this life, and tripped up by the snares of temptation. If in heaven Jesus is always dressed for action, much more should we be on earth.

And there is timely encouragement for us. Our ever-active God is working to bring us to completion, to full fitness to be with Him for ever in His kingdom. Philippians 1:6 “... he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus”.