How Old Are You?
Most of you are aware that today is my birthday! Since this is the year I go on Medicare -- you know how old I am. Allow me to ask you this morning -- How old are you? Is it offensive to you that I ask that Question? With many people -- age is a very delicate subject! People who are generally truthful on every other subject -- often tend to lie about their age -- especially as we grow older!
The census taker asked the lady -- "Your age, please?" "Well" -- the woman said -- "let me figure it out. -- I was 18 when I was married -- & my husband was 30. -- He is now 60 -- or twice as old as he was then; -- so if I am also twice my age then -- I must be 36."
When you stop to think about it -- old folk are worth a fortune! Their hair is silver; -- they have gold in their teeth; -- stones in their kidneys; -- lead in their feet; -- & gas in their stomachs! What more could you ask for?
Men, you know you're getting old when -- a loving -- caring -- gray haired lady helps you across the street -- & she is your wife!
I truly believe that the most difficult part of growing older is the loss of memory! -- My wife is continually telling me that she had told me some thing important; -- that I have just forgotten it. The problem is that she can't remember that -- she didn't remember to tell me!
The fact is -- everyone wants to live long -- but no one wants to be called old! -- I ask you again: -- How old are you?
In Genesis 47 -- we read the account -- of the time when
Joseph -- who had become the Prime Minister of Egypt -- took his elderly
father, Jacob -- to be introduced for the first time to the Egyptian monarch --
the Pharaoh of Egypt. This question of
age was addressed as this ruler of
Get the picture clearly in your mind; -- here we are in the Capital city of Egypt -- in the palace of the Pharaoh -- & here sets this plain shepherd -- Jacob -- an old man. The king -- the Pharaoh -- wanting to make the old countryman at ease -- & seeing how white his beard is -- & how feeble his step -- looks into his face & tenderly says to the aged man -- "How old are you?" I like the way Jacob's answer appears in the KJV (vr. 9) -- "The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred & thirty years." Jacob's answer reveals his concept of life here on earth! To him life was a journey! -- a "pilgrimage"! The dictionary defines pilgrimage as a journey with an objective! Jacob did not consider this earth as his final abode -- nor his destiny! Life for Jacob was progress to a grand & glorious objective.
It reminds me of that old hymn -- "This World Is Not My Home" This world is not my home, I'm just a passing thru, My treasures are laid up some-where beyond the blue; The angels beckon me from heaven's open door, And I can't feel at home in this world any more.
O Lord, I know, I have no friend like you,
If heaven's not my home -- O Lord what can I do?
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door,
And I can't feel at home in this world any more.
The problem so many of us have today -- is that we have become too comfortable with this present life! We have lost sight of our eternal objective! We are no longer pilgrims passing through this world; -- we are in this world -- & we want to stay here -- & not move on!
Well my friends -- I don't know about you today -- but "My heavenly home is bright & fair; -- I feel like traveling on!" "Let others seek a home below, ... Which flames devour, or waves overflow; -- I feel like traveling on!" "The Lord has been so good to me, ... Until that blessed home I see, -- I feel like traveling on!"
This concept of life is essential to every Christian! It is so important; -- in fact, it is necessary -- for you & I as Christians -- to keep the transitory things of this world in proper perspective. To do so -- becomes the reference point from which the Christian -- makes basic decisions -- & measures the issues of life! I feel that it is an appropriate question for me to ask you today -- just as Pharaoh asked Jacob, the patriarch: -- How old are you?
I do not solicit from you any literal response to the question I have asked -- for I would not put you under such temptation -- to feel you have to lie about your actual age!
I simply want to see -- by what yard-stick it is -- that we are measuring our earthly existence. You see -- there is a right way & a wrong way -- of measuring a door -- or a wall -- or an arch -- or a tower! And so there is a right way & a wrong way of measuring our earthly existence! It is in this manner -- that I face you this morning -- with this unusual question: -- How old are you? -- or how do you measure your life?
Allow me to suggest a couple ways by which you should not measure your life; -- & then suggest the one way by which you should measure your life.
1. Life should NOT be measured by lives
sorrows & misfortunes!
Life is so full of woes & sorrows! -- If every sorrow -- every misfortune -- becomes the yard-stick by which we measure our lives -- then life is nothing more than misery from beginning to end!
I've talked to a lot of people who seem to see life only through the eyes of all the sorrow & misfortune they have experienced! "Let's see" -- they say: -- There was that year I was divorced; -- & then the year I lost my job; -- then the next year I claimed bankruptcy; -- & then I got remarried; -- & then my spouse died." When you look at your life -- what do you see? Do you see only the misery; -- the disappointments; -- the heartaches; -- the sorrow; -- the hurts; -- the agony; -- the anguish; -- the suffering; -- that life has brought your way? Perhaps you have been betrayed -- misrepresented -- sat upon. Is your life consumed by all the sorrows & misfortunes you have experienced? -- to the point that -- that is all you have to talk about?
Or -- are you able to sing with John Newton -- "Thru many dangers, toils & snares -- I have already come; -- 'Tis grace that bro't me safe thus far, -- & grace will lead me home." My friends -- by God's amazing grace -- be determined to handle your sorrows wisely -- & not let them handle you! Find the strength to turn every bitter experience of life into stepping stones to spiritual achievement -- & to become an even more effective witness for Jesus Christ!
Even the brightest life must have its shadows! Even the smoothest path must have its thorns! There is no escape from trouble of some kind in any life! Sometimes it is through the avenue of physical distress -- or sometimes through mental anguish; -- yes, in 10,000 ways -- troubles come to harass & annoy. But rather than measure your life by its sorrows & misfortunes -- discover the grace of God that can bring you through every bitter disappointment with victory & joy!
I visited a couple who lost their precious child in death when she was at the tender age of 15! -- Oh what a beautiful girl she had been! My friends -- there is nothing in life that prepares you for the untimely death of one of your children! -- no matter the age! I expected a story of sorrow & grief to come from their lips; -- instead I encountered a couple who radiated the grace & the gladness of God! I asked them how they could be so brave -- so courageous in their loss. While they deeply felt their grief -- they told me of all the memories they cherished; -- of how she came to them every night for a kiss; -- of the soft touch of her hand. They did not dwell upon their grief -- their sorrow -- their misfortune. They choose -- by God's grace to remember the joys -- the happy memories -- & not the sorrows.
My friends -- it is an unwise person -- an ungrateful person -- an unfair person -- & most of all, an unchristian person -- who measures their life on earth only by the groans -- the tears -- the abuse -- the scorn -- the terror -- the sorrows & the misfortune. Learn to appropriate the grace of God in your life -- that you can be more than a overcomer -- & thereby be able to measure your life by the victory -- & not by defeat!
2. Life should NOT be measured by the amount
of money you have made; -- nor the things you accumulate!
It is so easy to get caught up in this materialist world in which we live -- to the point that we think we should measure our life by the money we earn -- or the possessions we have.
When Willie Sutton was asked why he robbed banks -- he said: "That's where the money is."
A teacher of second-graders said: -- "I'll give this $5 bill to the student who can tell me who is the greatest person in the world." One child said: -- "It's George Washington." "No, he's great, but not the greatest." Another said: -- "Abraham Lincoln." "No, he's great, but not the greatest." Others suggested John F. Kennedy -- Martin Luther King, etc. Finally a Jewish boy in the class raised his hand & said: "Jesus Christ." The teacher was impressed & gave the child the $5 bill -- but asked: -- "How is it that you, a Jewish boy said 'Jesus?'" The boy said: -- "In my heart it is Moses -- but business is business."
Oh how we do strive to earn more -- make more -- have more -- & end up owing more! We measure our life by what we have -- & by the price of our toys. There are many people who estimate their life on earth by the amount of money they earn -- & all the things they accumulate. They say -- 1986 -- or 1990 -- or 2001 was wasted." "Why?" -- you ask them. -- They reply: "I made no money that year."
Now, it is insincerity to talk against money -- as though it had no value. It does bring life a certain amount of comfort. It may represent refinement -- education -- & many blessings. It is the spread on the table that feeds the child's hunger. It is the lighting of the furnace that keeps you warm. It is the making of the bed on which you rest from your cares & anxiety. It is in the end what provides a decent tombstone -- on which is chiseled the words of your Christian hope.
It is simply hypocrisy for this pulpit to preach against the importance of money.
But while this is true -- he/she who uses money -- or thinks of money as anything but a means to an end -- will find out their mistake when the glittering treasures slip out of their nervous grasp. How long does it take -- or how much does it take -- to discover that money & possessions in itself will never completely satisfy the human heart? Have you made that discovery yet? -- or are you still trying to measure your life by the amount of money you earn? -- or wish you could earn?
A wealthy man died -- & someone asked: -- "How much did he leave behind?" -- The answer was: -- "All of it!"
George W. Truett
-- long-time pastor of 1st
Although that wealthy Texan had succeeded in making money -- & accumulating a lot of things -- he had failed to prepare for eternity.
My friends -- money -- bonds -- mortgages & leases have their purpose -- but they make a poor yard-stick with which to measure your life!
The Bible says in Psalm 49:6-9 -- "They trust in their wealth & boast of great riches. -- Yet they cannot redeem themselves from death by paying a ransom to God. -- Redemption does not come so easily, for no one can ever pay enough to live forever & never see the grave" (NLT).
3. Instead -- Our Life should be Measured by Spiritual Progress!
Where are you today in your spiritual growth & development? Are you farther up the road -- or down the road -- than you were -- a year ago -- five years ago?
It is not sinful egotism for a Christian to say: -- "I am purer than I used to be! -- I am more dedicated to Christ than I used to be; -- I have gotten over a great many of the bad habits in which I used to indulge; -- I am a better man -- a better woman -- than I used to be." There is no sinful egotism in that!
It is not egotism for a soldier to say: -- "I know more about military tactics than I used to know." It is not egotism for a sailor to say: -- "I know better how to serve in the Navy than I did before I ever saw a warship." And there is no sinful egotism when a Christian -- fighting the battles of the Lord -- to say: -- "I know more about spiritual tactics -- & about spiritual warfare than I used to know!"
The Bible says we are to "grow in the grace & in the knowledge of our Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 3:18). We either grow in grace -- or we grow in dis-grace! Are you growing in the Lord Jesus? Are you making progress spiritually? Are you more in love with Jesus than you have ever been? Are you fulfilling God's purpose in your life? -- Doing that which is pleasing to God? -- How do you feel about your life spiritually?
There's only one life; -- it will soon be past. Only what's done for Christ will last!
There are many -- & I wish
there were more -- who are estimating life by their spiritual development! They stand on an entirely different plane of
character from that which they once occupied.
They are measuring their life on earth -- by prayers answered; -- by
victories won; -- by the hallelujah's of life; -- by
joy of the Lord's presence. They have
stood at
Years I spent in vanity & pride -- Caring not my Lord was crucified, knowing not it was for me He died -- On Calvary. Now I've giv'n to Jesus ev'ry-thing; -- Now I gladly own Him as my King; Now my raptured soul can only sing -- Of Calvary! Mercy there was great, & grace was free; -- Pardon there was multiplied to me; There my burdened soul found liberty -- At Calvary!
My friend -- has
Not for ease or worldly pleasure, -- Nor for fame my prayer shall be; Gladly will I toil & suffer, -- Only let me walk with Thee.
Close to Thee, close to Thee, -- Close to Thee, close to Thee, All along my pilgrim journey, -- Savior, let me walk with Thee."
Conclusion: -- I
always look forward to another birthday!
There is something very liberating about beginning another year! Your Birthday -- is not just another day on the calendar; -- it represents a point in time when you can say -- "old things pass away" -- & there is the potential of wonderful new things before you. Your Birthday is a good time in which to begin a new style of measurement!
I ask you this morning: -- How old are you? -- or in what manner do you measure your life?
Some measure life by their fame -- or by their popularity -- or their power over others. Some people measure their lives by the amount of worldly pleasure they have had; -- by mere worldly gratification. Certainly -- there are many who estimate their life on earth by their sorrows & misfortunes. And some measures their life on earth by the amount of money they earn -- & things they have accumulated.
But there is a vast difference between the worldly way of measuring life -- & the Christian way of measuring life! For the Christian -- life should be measured by our spiritual progress!
Years ago, years ago, a man standing along side of the
Now let me ask you all: -- Have you made preparation for eternity?
We all make preparation for time -- but have you made any preparation for eternity?
The wheel of time turn so very swiftly! As for me -- I am glad the years are going -- ever so swiftly! I am coming on nearer to my eternal Home. My countenance lights up with the thought -- I'm nearer Home!
My hope is built on nothing less -- Then Jesus' blood & righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame -- But wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ, the solid Rock I stand; -- All other ground is sinking sand.
All other ground is sinking sand.
My friends -- I challenge you today -- to plant both your feet on the Rock -- Christ Jesus! The waves of swift moving time may dash around you -- but you can say -- "God is my refuge & my strength; -- a very present help." If you stand on that Solid Rock -- you can defy all earth & hell to over-throw you!
When it comes to measuring your life -- do so by marking the spiritual progress you are making -- day by day -- year by year.
November 26, 2006
Pastor Lyle Pettit -- Wynne Chapel -- Cochise, AZ
www.wynnechapel.org