Why does God let us age? Doesn't it seem a little mean-spirited to you? Like a cruel joke. We get uglier, lose our mental abilities, become dependant on others...
Why doesn't God just let us stay young forever? I have two nephews, Brycen: age 5; Riley: age 1. And boy-o-boy do they ever have zest. And what I've found as we get older we seam to lose that zest. Why I can't even remember the last time I instigated a game of, "Can't get me"... Usually it's Brycen who goads me into playing that game.
Well, I asked my born-again Christian mother that question, and she said it was because of sin; a.k.a. we're suffering the repercussions from Adam and Eve's original sin of doing what God told them not to do which was eating from the tree of good and evil from the days of the garden of Eden (Genesis 2: 17, 3: 3, 3: 17-19).
Not a bad answer, going to scripture to prove your point -- if you can accurately use that scripture the way it was intended, BUT it doesn't really answer my question, why does God let us age?
E.C. Henry thinks God is kind. Above all else I believe in the the good nature of God's character, ie. the reasons why He does what He does. God has a purpose behind what He does. True, He doesn't always explain His rationale. Rather, God calls us to think and ponder over why He does what He does. Do ever think about the underlying reasons God does what He does? Well, that the gist of what this post is all about. And now I'll answer the question.
E.C. Henry thinks God lets us age to make us hungry for Heaven.
Don't be like Peter Weyland from Ridley Scott's "Prometheus". No matter how rich, beautiful and well off you are in your life here on Earth, God never intended you to stay on this Earth, in the flesh, forever.
Aging is God's way of conditioning us to be willing to let go of our life here, in exchange for for the better life that is to come in the after-life. Consider the word of Yeshua (Jesus):
Mark 12: 25 (Jesus speaking) "For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven."
Luke 20: 34-36 Jesus said to them, "The sons of this age mary and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; for they cannot even die anymore, because they are like angels, and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection."
John 11: 25-26 "And Jesus siad to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?""
Too bad Peter Weland from Ridley Scott's "Prometheus" didn't have his heart inclined to the true sorce of life, Jesus, as opposed to those monsterous Engineers.
John 3: 3-8 "Jesus answered and said to him, "Truely, truly I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."
Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into this mother's womb and be born, can he?"
Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of the water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.""
As you age you suffer decay; you're no longer in your prime. And so many people are so lead JUST by what they see rather than striving for the higher calling of God, which can ultimately restore their youth.
And as we age we get an opportunity to grow in God. Like Moses. Moses lived to be 120 years old, yet scripture states that even in Moses old age, "his eyes were not dim, and his vigor was not abated." (You can read this for yourself in Deuteronomy 34: 7) If you're going to live in this flesh and live a bunch of years don't you want to live something like Moses, have your eyes bright and still be gettin' after it? YES! And the key was, Moses got to talk face to face with God. Yes, Moses had a key role in leading the new nation of Isreal after its birth out of Egypt, but Moses also got know God as he conversed with Him.
And you know what, you can be God's friend too. No reason not to be. Jesus is key. He is the Almighty's personally selected choice to be our salvation from a decaying body. Believe it.
I refuse to believe that God is cruel in anything He does. I recognize my need of Him. And I believe He has kind intent in what He does -- even in aging!
So don't get down when you get older. Rather, grow in your relationship with the Lord. Read the bible and pray. Worship Him with other believers and let God do a work in your heart. Let's all get new bodies and do it God's way -- through the door God intends for us all to go through, Jesus.
Aging is not God's cruel joke. Rather, it is a daily, physical reminder that we need the Lord. We are all dependant on the benevolence of a good God. Honor the way the Lord has provided. Say, "Yes." to Jesus and get your name included in the Lamb's Book of Life.
P.S. As a post-script I asked my mom when she gets her resurrected body from the Lord what age range she would prefer that to be in. She said her 20s (she's currently in her 60s now). But what about you? What age, if you could stay there forever would you want to be?
Me, I'm not sure what age I'd chose. I know I really long for the days of being innocent and filled with zest like my 5-year-old nephew Brycen. I personally feel my own internal corruption every day. Nobody needs to remind me what a vile sinner I am, my own heart condemns me. I know I need to change. I need to become more innocent. More excited about life. I need to become more like Jesus, so I can be Jesus to the people in my sphere of influence. I need to grow in my relationship with Jesus. Think I'll start tonight, down on my knees before my bed, praying to a kind, benevolent God.
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