Old Before Our Time

Somewhere along the line, we start to count our age backward.

When we're young, we look forward to the next age. A teen can hardly wait until they're old enough to get a job, old enough to date, old enough to get a driver's license.

When asked how old they are, a small child proudly holds up four or five or six fingers. They might even proclaim, "I'm a big girl now!"

We look forward to our high school or college graduation. Many of us long for the day when we can "leave this town and move to a bigger city."

A young couple eagerly anticipates the birth of a child and the beginning of their journey as a family.

When is it we start to look back more than to the future?

"Life used to be simpler," we say. "There used to be good shows on TV." We look back on days when a youngster could spend a day fishing or in the woods without their parents worrying that they might have been kidnapped.

Our attitude seems to indicate that our best years are behind us. retirement is a time for ourselves, implying that our usefulness to others is over.

Change your attitude! Look forward at life, not backward! Why can't we believe that our best years are still ahead, even when we're in our fifties, sixties or seventies?

As years go by, we continue to gain experience. We gain wisdom, either by learning from our mistakes or our victories.

We have learned to be more efficient. When we go someplace, we make a list of several stops to make along the way. Why go for one thing?

It's not a matter of,"I've only got a few years left, so I can't do much more." The fact is,with the efficiency we've learned and mistakes we know to avoid, there is a whole lot we can do with a modest amount of time.

We really don't know when our years will run out. God deserves for you to give this life your best for as long as you can.