Old So Soon

I've never heard a farmer say, "You know what? The weather has been perfect every day this year!"

I've never heard a child say, "Ice cream? No thanks. I want a second helping of cauliflower."

And I've never heard a 90 year old say, "My youthful years went by too slowly. I wish I could have gotten older quicker."

Time doesn't just fly. It soars along on supersonic wings.

Not long ago I took pride in how fast I could run on the softball field and basketball court. Now I exercise and stay in shape, but after a half hour of vigorous play with my granddaughters I head for my favorite easy chair.

There was a time when I could jump effortlessly over a medium-sized fence and leap onto the back of Dad's pickup truck without giving it a thought. The other day I tried to jump onto the back of a pickup truck and my feet felt like they were glued to the pavement.

There was a time when my waist was a size 30. Back then I could consume two quarter-pound burgers, a large order of fries, and a chocolate shake for dinner, and still dig around in the refrigerator looking for a snack later in the evening. Now I avoid fried foods, keep the lettuce growers in business, and try to convince myself that a bowl of oatmeal tastes as good as ice cream.

Time hasn't slowed down, but my metabolism has.

There was a time when my hair showed no gray, my skin had no wrinkles, my shoes needed no insoles, and my teeth wore no crowns. There was a time when doctors gave me physical exams without little lectures that include the phrase "a guy your age."

Back then "Mr." referred to my dad, not me. Back then I admired couples who had been married 30 years, but I couldn't imagine experiencing three decades of marriage myself. Back then I could see better at night, hear better in a noisy room, and stoop down to tie my shoe without a single joint cracking. Back then I thought about getting a job, not leaving a legacy. Back then I needed mentors and elders, but never thought of myself as one.

Back then when I read in the Bible, "Let no one despise your youth," I related to the young minister Timothy. Now I need to make sure I'm not the one looking down on my younger brothers and sisters in Christ.

There's an interesting paradox in Scripture. Life is fleeting like a morning fog. It fades like a cut flower, withers like summer grass. But from God's perspective life is forever. Beyond the threshold of death we're all headed to a new kind of life that is timeless and never-ending. Our choices now have eternal consequences.

"Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out—but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity" (1 John 2:16, 17, The Message).

Yes, the years swiftly pass. And yet . . . every day we're all moving closer to God's forever future. And some days I feel like I can't get there soon enough.