Reluctant Retiree

Lately I have been in a lot of situations where I sensed that what I have to say is better left unsaid. My wife said something that I understood to be a criticism of me. Immediately I thought of a good comeback, but then realized that she was right, at least partially. My retort would have just escalated the tension and likely lead her to become defensive. In a group discussion, I gave my opinion. Someone else indirectly verbally challenged my view. I could have defended my opinion, but it would have sidetracked the discussion and led to meaningless debate over an inconsequential issue.

Of course, there are times when leaving something unsaid is not the right thing to do. We should always defend the weak and downtrodden amongst us. We should always stand for truth and justice. We must be courageous in defending our faith and morality.

And we should always be full of praise to our God. Psalm 145:2-4 says, “Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.” We should praise Him for the great things that He does. But we should also praise Him for who He is. After all, He is all powerful, all knowing, full of love, giver of hope, truth, faithful, compassionate, Father of all mercies, and full of grace. He is worthy of our praise.

We spend an inordinate amount of time on how we look. We dress ourselves with the finest clothes we can afford, style our hair with the latest look, whiten and straighten our teeth, cover imperfections, put on gobs of makeup and even adorn ourselves with flashy jewelry. Today, it is also fashionable to decorate our bodies with tattoos and piercings. All this effort is designed to make our bodies appear more beautiful and attractive.

We can make the packaging more attractive, but we are unable to significantly add to the durability of the package. Our bodies are decaying and we suffer in the process. Diseases come and body parts wear out. As we age, we spend a higher and higher percentage of time with physicians.

To those who have trusted Jesus as Savior and Lord, God has promised to give us heavenly bodies when we are resurrected and meet Him in heaven. I Corinthians 15:42-44 says, “So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown perishable; what is raised imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.” We are not told a lot about what our heavenly bodies will look like, but we are told that these new bodies will be imperishable, glorious, powerful, and spiritual. Our earthly bodies, on the other hand, are perishable, dishonorable, weak and natural.

As an older person, I am really looking forward to my heavenly body replacing my earthly body. To receive a heavenly body, however, God requires that you trust Him while you are in your earthly body. Please don’t wait any longer. Turn from sin and trust Jesus to save you for eternity.

What is your immediate response when someone cuts in front of you on the highway, almost sending you off the road? My immediate thought is to speed up and do the same to them. How about when someone spreads a false rumor about you? What is your response? Again, my first thought is to justify myself and spread a rumor about them. Fortunately, those are just my first thoughts. Nowadays, I don’t follow through on my first thoughts, thank God! I calm down and think it through to come up with a better reaction, something that won’t escalate the tension.

Jesus was severely mistreated. He was beaten for doing good to all and speaking the truth. He was whipped and then nailed to the cross to die. All the while He was merciful to His abusers. We will most likely not face such severe mistreatment, but we are called to follow His example.

Romans 12:18-21 says, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ To the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

We are never to avenge evil done to us. We should leave that to God, who is far more capable of exacting justice on our behalf. Instead, we are told to be kind to those who harm us, and in so doing they will be covered in shame.

It is difficult to be kind to those who mistreat us. But God promises great rewards to those who trust Him to bring justice.

Our grandson plays high school football. He is a big man at about six feet two inches tall and around 250 pounds. The team uses him as a nose tackle on defense. That means he is lined up against two other large men on every play. He has to push and shove his way through these giants to reach his goal of tackling whoever has the ball. It is a daunting task.

We all face giants in our path. They come upon us as big problems or troubles. They seek to keep us from our goal of living happy successful lives. These problems want to distract us from living righteously and walking with God.

King David faced a giant when he was just a young man. This giant, Goliath, wanted to destroy, not only David, but all of God’s people. Goliath was certainly strong and well equipped for the fight. But David responded by saying, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.” We all know the rest of the story. David killed Goliath with a slingshot.

But really, how did David succeed? First, he took his eyes off the giant and put them onto God. He knew the problem was big, but he also knew that his God was much bigger. Second, he placed his trust in God, not in his own strength and abilities. He came to the fight in the name of the Lord. Third, he did not fight in his own cleverness and wisdom. He used only what God had given him.

We should use the same successful strategy when faced with our own giant problems. Take our eyes off the giant problem and put them on God. Trust God, not our own strength. And rely on God to fight for us. The battle is the Lord’s. The victory is assured.

Before we moved into our new home, we had to have the carpet cleaned. There was one large rust colored spot in the dining room. We couldn’t identify the source of the spot, but we were sure that we couldn’t get it out ourselves. We needed to call an expert. He was able to remove the spot and the carpet was clean when we moved in.

Our lives are a bit like carpet. At times people walk all over us and leave their mark. The hurt and pain can’t be easily removed. Worse yet, sometimes our own actions leave their mark on the carpet of our lives. We spill a little jealousy here, a little anger over there, and a pile of lies in the corner. We try to cover the spots with good deeds, but there isn’t enough good deeds to cover the whole carpet. We need an expert to come into our lives and wash us clean from the inside out.

I Thessalonians 5:23-24 says, “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.” God offers to cleanse us from the ugly spots we have made in our lives. His offer was made through the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ. He can cleanse us and make us blameless before Him. This cleansing covers our whole body, soul, and spirit. Though this cleansing cost the Father the life of His own Son, He offers it freely to all. Won’t you accept this wonderful offer?