I still remember when I was in high school and teachers told me about things that were going to happen in our future. I still remember figuring out when that happens I will be 30, wow that is ancient. But as the years progress, thirty doesn’t seem ancient anymore.
Kids are so funny, in case you didn’t know. I get this question quite often, “do you know that you’re old?” It is like I need a reminder that I’m getting old. Some ask, “did you know you have a bald spot?” I guess they figure they need to advise me on those facts, because I am so old I might have forgotten.
This has been around the internet for a while and the author is unknown, but it is funny and true.
When you’re very young you nudge the number of your age. ‘How old are you?’ ‘I’m four and a half!’ or ‘I’m gonna be five.’
As a teenager you jump to the next number, or even a few ahead. ‘How old are you?’ ‘I’m gonna be 16!’ Even if you are 13 you want people to know that you’re ‘gonna be 16.’
You become 21. It’s a celebration. I HAVE ARRIVED. I have become 21!
But then you TURN 30. Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. No more fun. It’s to late for fun. You’ve turned.
Then you’re PUSHING 40. What happened to looking forward to a special birthday milestone. Push forty away. Keep it at arms length as long as possible BECAUSE it leads to reaching 50!
You MAKE it to 60. I should be gone by now, but I’m not. I made it.
So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.
By that time you’ve built up so much speed that you HIT 70! After that it’s a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday!
You get into your 80’s and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30 ; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn’t end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards; ‘I Was JUST 92.’
Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. ‘I’m 100 and a half!’
The funny thing about all that is that I don’t usually feel that old. I am surprised when I look in the mirror and I see this much older person. I think part of that is that I don’t think of myself as being old. I like acting and being the person that I am. I am not ready for the walker or the cane. I want to live for Christ and live it to the fullest.
So here are some things you can do, to live this extraordinary life that God wants you to have:
- Keep close to your creator. He loves you and he wants what is best for you. We are currently in a great sermon series on how to grow deeper in your relationship with God and how we can be really close to Him.
- Stay connected to the body of Christ. This is the place where you will be with others who are on the same journey you are and looking for ways to live this crazy life.
- Think and be positive. Zig Zeigler would always talk about “stinking thinking” and how it can destroy you. You really are what you dwell on. If you dwell on negative things all the time, you will become a negative person and someone people will try to avoid. Think and act positive and it will change your life.
- Learn to laugh (a lot). Kids feel and act so young because they have learned to laugh and they do it all the time. Some of my favorite videos on YouTube and Facebook is young kids laughing and sometimes over things we don’t find funny, but they do. We need to learn from them and laugh at ourselves and others. I love being around people who laugh and I love trying to make my wife laugh. We need to take time and laugh.
- Love God and others. God loves us and He is most deserving of our love, so love Him back. Share that love with others and love them like God would love them. Don’t forget to tell those you love how much they mean to you.
- Take care of your body. Don’t abuse your body and then one day regret all the decisions that you made. Start today taking care of your body so you can live a better life, a longer life, and serve God to your full potential. You only have one body so don’t abuse it.
- Be a life-long learner. I can never get enough of learning new things. I read, study and listen so I can know more and live better. Young people look at life with amazement as they learn new things. You want to feel older than you really are, just stop learning. We all need to be life-long learners.
There is nothing wrong with being old, but there is a problem when we stop living. God loves this world (and you) so much that he gave us His one and only Son so we could be saved. We have a mission and that is to win this world. Let’s do it together: live life and win everyone to Christ.
