Just Another Birthday

Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained by a righteous life.

(Proverbs 16:31)

The Glory of young men is their strength, gray hair the splendor of the old.

(Proverbs 20:29)

I just recently celebrated my 61^st birthday. An hour or so before I sat down to begin writing this article; I colored my hair to cover up the gray.

Have you heard people speak of growing old gracefully? I certainly have. The words growing old gracefully can have a couple of different meanings. They can refer to the physical appearance of a person as they become older as well as that person’s emotional state of mind.

Physically some people are more blessed than others as the aging process occurs. In this respect, I have to admit that I have been blessed. At age 61 I have a few wrinkles appearing, but not as many as some. Emotionally I have to say that I am not aging gracefully at all.

I find myself in a continuous state of worry concerning my weight, my gray hair, my health (which is comparatively very good), my self-worth and how others see me. I constantly beat myself up over the fact that I don’t take the time to exercise every day, or that I eat food that is unhealthy for me.

I would here like to quote selected verses from Psalm 33 to you for my own benefit and also as a reminder of how awesome our God is and how much He cares for us. The Psalmist writes:

⁴For the word of the Lord is

Right and true;

He is faithful in all he does.

⁶By the word of the Lord were

the heavens made,

their starry host by the

breath of his mouth.

⁷He gathers the waters of the

Sea into jars;^{(as in a heap)}

He puts the deep into

Storehouses.

⁹For he spoke, and it came to be

He commanded, and it stood firm.

¹²Blessed is the nation whose

God is the Lord,

the people he chose for his inheritance.

¹³From heaven above the Lord looks

down and sees all mankind;

¹⁴from his dwelling place he watches

all who live on earth.

¹⁵he who forms the hearts of all,

who considers everything

they do.

As I read the verses of this Psalm I ask myself; where is my faith? Our God is an awesome God! He knows each person on earth by name and He loves each of us as if we were His only child. He formed the sun, the moon and the stars by the breath of His mouth. He breathed and they came into being. He has promised that I and all believers are to be recipients of His inheritance. We are His children. He watches over us from heaven. He forms our hearts and minds.

I watched a video at my church recently which is entitled; How Great is our God. I would highly recommend that all see it. It was done by Louie Giglio. He is a great speaker and Pastor of the Passion City Church in Atlanta, Georgia. You may check out the churches’ website at www.passioncitychurch.com to find out what kind of teachings they adhere to.

In the video He talked about how great and awesome our God is and how intricate, and at the same time huge and vast His universe is. He also talked about the miracle of life and how precious it is – not just the life of the unborn child in the womb, but the life of every human being on this earth. He discussed the miracle of our bodies and how they work – how our hearts beat every second, minute, day and hour that we live and how our cells are in a constant state of reproduction.

The thing that awed me the most was his discussion about a molecule found in the human body called “Laminin”. If you have had medical training or are into Science or Physics you already know what Laminin is and what it does for the human body. For those of you who, like me, have never heard of it, I will explain it to you. In order to help you remember the word, think of the word “Laminate”. The meaning of the word Laminate as described at Wilepedia.com is as follows:

A Laminate is a material that can be constructed by uniting two or more materials together. The process of creating a laminate is called lamination which refers to the placing of something between layers of plastic and gluing them with heat and/or pressure...

“Laminin” is a cell adhesion molecule. It is what holds the cells of our human body together. It is found in all living organisms or in anything containing protein. Well, that sounds fine, and is fairly easy to understand, but wait, there is more... What does the Laminin Molecule look like?

The Laminin molecule is shaped like the cross of Christ. The middle picture above shows how the molecule looks naturally as it is found in the cells of our body.

In regard to our relationship to God and our human body this fits perfectly into God’s Word. Listen to what the Apostle Paul tells us in his letter to the Colossians; He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God. The firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:15-17)

The next most awesome thing I learned from Pastor Giglio is that the galaxy of the universe in which earth is placed contains a black hole. Now I have heard about a Black Hole in space on the news and not paid much attention to it. The bottom picture above is a picture of the Black Hole taken in recent years by the Hubel Telescope. What do you think?

This is very humbling to me. Our universe is so vast. Our God is so huge. He is beyond anything the human imagination can fathom. Why should I ever worry about anything? He created me in His image. He has promised to take care of me. He tells me many times in His word that he loves me. How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (1 John 3:1)

I see the love God has for me in the gift of His Son who lived a perfect life for me and for all people. Jesus suffered and died as payment for the debt we all owe to God for our sin. If He is willing to do all that for me, why should I worry about getting older and about what the future holds for me? I should be rejoicing that each birthday I celebrate brings me closer to the day He will call me to my eternal home. I should rejoice that I am able to work in service to Him to tell all whom I meet about His wonderful love for all people. I need to thank Him each morning for the gift of a new day and happily look forward to whatever task He sets before me. I need to remember that my body belongs to Him and that it is His temple. I will never again have the youthful body I had at age 25, but I am blessed to be healthy and strong. I need to worry less about what others think of me and about how I look physically, and focus on God’s love for me and remember that I am here to serve Him and my fellowman out of love for Christ.

As far as taking the time to exercise and to eat healthy, I need to pray about that. My prayer is that God will help me to use the time He is giving me to his glory. I pray also that He will help me take better care of His temple (my body) in order to keep it healthy and strong so that I can better serve Him. I pray that he will grant me a healthy attitude, and instead of my constant worrying, that he will help me to let go and let God. I will endeavor to enjoy my time of Grace and use it wisely to tell all whom I meet of His wonderful love, and of the forgiveness which is found when we bring a repentant heart to the foot of the cross of Christ. Jesus commands in John 9:4; As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. When our Time of Grace is ended, our work will be done. We will live with God in glory and worship Him around His glorious throne.

Heavenly Father,

Forgive me for not appreciating my gray hair – my crown of splendor. Help me to appreciate each birthday that comes as a gift from your hand, and to use your gift of time in service to you, to further your kingdom.

By Kristeen - To God be the Glory!