…so that your youth is renewed like the eagle (Psalm 103:5).
…they will be full of sap and very green (Psalm 92:14).
Eternal, lasting youth. Sound good to you?
This is better than anything cosmetic surgery can offer. This is a real makeover.
We are not talking about a second childhood or any such silly thing. We are talking about the Holy Spirit doing a new thing in an old vessel, the living God rejuvenating a veteran servant, the God of creation renewing His child and doing something fresh in him or her. Making you youthful.
And no, the image of recapping an old tire does not fit here. Or, plastering a toupee on a bald head. Or padding a bra. Or going in for cosmetic surgery. None of these images fits what the living God wants to do, intends to do, has promised to do in the life of His elderly faithful.
He will make you JOYFUL. Joy, in fact, is a big deal with God. In the words of C. S. Lewis, joy is the business of Heaven. Psalm 16:11 assures that “in Thy presence there is fullness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore.”
Over and over before our Lord left the apostles on that fateful night in the Upper Room, He spoke to them about His joy. He said, “These things I have spoken to you that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full” (John 15:11). Good, huh? But wait–He’s not through.
–No one will take your joy away from you (16:22).
–Ask and you will receive, that your joy may be made full (16:24).
–These things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves (17:13).
Question: So, whose joy is it, yours or His? Ours or God’s? Answer: “Yes.” The joy of the Lord is my strength, said (who?). It’s His joy, it’s in us, and it has become our strength.
He will make you LAUGH. Real, deep down soul-satisfying laughter is better than any drug on the market, any elixir ever dreamed up, anything satan sells in a bottle. It’s intoxicating, it’s uplifting, and it has no hangover. I recommend His laughter.
I love the insight of Ezra chapter 3. After the foundation of the restored temple was laid in Jerusalem, the people paused to celebrate. Now, everyone was happy, all were rejoicing, and the music was everywhere, but something special was occurring. “The old men who had seen the first temple wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, while many shouted aloud for joy, so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the shout of joy from the sound of the weeping of the people, for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the sound was heard far away” (Ezra 3:10-13). Think of this: The old people looked back and remembered and wept, while the younger people looked forward and laughed.
He will cause you to DREAM. “Your old men will dream dreams,” says Joel 2:28.
He will make you CREATIVE.
He will give you a heart of LOVE. Oh, and one thing you will discover is that not only will you be loving the unlovely and undeserving–you will that, and that’s good, although not unexpected–but you will also enjoy the added blessing of loving those who love you, who might (as we say) deserve to be loved. Our family, our grandchildren, the sweet people at church, some neighbors who bless you.
He will teach you NEW THINGS in life, in Scripture, in His Spirit indwelling you. It’s such a rich time.
You will PRAY better, more intimately, more effectively, and–a big deal with me–more joyfully than you ever have before. The line from Isaiah 56 comes to mind: Those whom I bring to my holy mountain, I will make joyful in My house of prayer (56:7).
AND NOW THE DOWNSIDE…
You will still look old. Sorry about that, gang. Oh, God will put a lilt to your laughter and a smile to your heart, but you’re still 84 (okay, I am 84, not you!) and there is no getting around that. God is not interested in giving you jet black hair again. In fact, He thinks grey hair is something to be valued and to honor.
Scripture promises, “Even though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.” (See 2 Corinthians 4:16). So, there it is. The two co-exist: youth and aging.
But one of these days, we leave behind this earthly container. This tent, Paul calls it (2 Corinthians 5), this earthly vessel, the house of clay. And thereafter, it’s all new.
What will it be like? I have no idea. But I cannot wait to see.
