Oh, for the days when I was in my prime, when God’s intimate friendship blessed my house … Job 29:4

Today’s Scripture Reading (June 18, 2018): Job 29

Here is an interesting question (admittedly stolen from Facebook). If you didn’t know your birth date, how old do you feel? Our age, in some ways, is a meaningless number. You are not the age that is revealed by your birth certificate. You are as old as you feel. I have friends in their thirties who often seem ready for retirement. The energy and vigor are gone, and it takes everything that they have to make to through the day. Others, who are much older, have a spring in their step and the energy and adventurous nature that often hides their birth certificate age.

My physician for many years retired a couple of years ago. He maintained that your best decade of life was the sixth decade. According to him, most of us still have enough health in our sixties to enjoy life, while at the same time having both the means and possibly a reduction of responsibilities to enjoy life. His retirement came half-way through that decade, but there was a wistful feel to his retirement plans that indicated that he wished he had retired earlier.

The major difference between the sixth and the seventh decade is health. More health issues begin to creep up in your seventies than in your sixties. But the reality is this; no matter how old you might be chronologically when health issues begin to impact your day-to-day life, that is the age at which you have become old. The sad part for all of us is that, while we seem to chase after our youth in some ways, there are some very basic things that we can do (don’t smoke, watch your alcohol consumption, maintain an active lifestyle, watch your weight) in our youth which will allow us to feel healthy, and therefore young, well into our sixth and seventh decades. But we, including me, refuse to do this when we are young, and we pay the price for our sins as we get older.

What has changed in Job’s life is his health. When he had his health, he was in his prime. He felt closer to God. But now, health issues have not only made him feel older, but they have also provided a barrier between him and God. And that is something that we understand. When we are sick, often we feel further from God. The truth of Job’s story, one that we need to remember in times when our health suffers, is that there has been no change in his relationship with God. God is still there, as close as Job’s next breath. God still loves Job.

And we are still loved by God, even when our health declines. God still values us, even as we grow older – and it doesn’t matter whether it is an age that is revealed by our birth certificates, or just revealed by the way that we feel. You are still special in the eyes of the one who created you. And how you might feel will never change that.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Job 30