Old Age Is Not A Problem For God

"And may He be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age ... " - Ruth 4:15a.

It is wonderful that we have been praying for the WFA youth and young adults for they are indeed the future of our church. We must thank God their energy, vigour and potential but now that the end of 2009 is upon us, we must not forget about the dear folk around us who are older. They are still a very valuable asset that must never be overlooked, ignored or forgotten. For the dear "senior citizens" in WFA who at times feel depleted, of little use and unable to serve, this thinking and feeling is actually a lie that we must reject! Pastor Rick Warren has emphasized that from a Biblical perspective, God's servants never really retire because God uses His servants in spite of seemingly unfavourable circumstances.

An example of this is the life of Naomi, an elderly lady who was left completely destitute after she lost her husband and her sons. To make matters worse, her life was impoverished by a famine in the land (Ruth 1:1-5). God however intervened through a man named Boaz and provided the 'restorer of life and a nourisher' of Naomi's old age (ruth 4:15a). As her kinsman-redeemer, Boaz married Naomi's widowed daughter-in-law Ruth and by that marriage produced a grandson for Naomi. The birth of her grandson gave Naomi a new position in life, causing the women in her town to declare that the restorer of life and nourisher of her old age had blessed her and changed her life.

Naomi's grandson by Ruth and Boaz was Obed - who was later to become the grandfather of King David. The Hebrew word for 'restorer' is 'shub' which means to turn back, return, restore, reverse, retrieve or to bring back. All these meanings can describe the ministry of Jesus Christ; because of His death and resurrection, Christ can restore life to any person who will turn away from sin and turn to God. The manner in which Boaz rescued Ruth is a model of the story of Christ rescuing His people from sin.

Boaz is therefore often seen as an image of Jesus, our kinsman-redeemer. Jesus became our kinsman when He was born into this world as one like us and became our Redeemer when He paid with His life and blood at the cross to redeem us. Jesus gave Himself to us as our restorer of life and nourisher of our old age. When the restorer of life is in our lives by faith, what we can have lost can be restored (Joel 2:25-26). With the nourisher of our old age in us, our bodies can be gloriously renewed even when we grow old.

That is why when Moses died at the age of 120 years, his eyes were not dim and his natural vigour was not diminished (Deuteronomy 34:7). Caleb, at 85 years of age, could still drive out the giants from the land. God had literally nourished his body, and made it strong for war (Joshua 14:11). Sarah was clearly rejuvenated in her old age by God for she was still desirable to a king at the age of 90 (Genesis 20:1-2). God even renewed her body so she had the strength to conceive seed (Hebrews 11:11), giving birth to Isaac in her old age.

God is beyond limitations of time and as a consequence of this, our faith in Him can bring us into a special place of timelessness. Here, what the years have stolen can be restored. Even as our years increase, by faith we need not become weak, weary and unable to be useful (as seen by the world) because the restorer of life and nourisher of old age is in us.