Where Does Time Go? 4/27/2015

Good Morning Friends,

I look forward to a busy week at work and in ministry. The agenda is full and my energy fuel tank along with my spiritual bank were filled up this weekend. I rested and sought time with the Lord.
My coffee this morning is Door County Coconut Crush. At the end of next weekend I wouldn't mind being somewhere tropical resting on a beach.

Where does time go. It seems like just yesterday that it was 1975 and high school graduation was approaching quickly. It seems like just yesterday that I could run for hours and wake up the next day and do it again. This weekend had me looking at my retirement plan and thinking that it won't be too long if the Lord wills that I can pull the plug at work. Now that doesn't make me elderly just yet but it heightens my awareness to the approach of it and that some of my past mentors are now elderly. I am taking this time to remind churches that we have a responsibility to the elderly.

Christian ministry to the aged involves caring for each elderly individual as a person created in the image of God and as a person for whom Christ cares (Matthew 25:31-46).(Genesis 1:27)

Genesis 1:27New King James Version (NKJV)
²⁷ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Matthew 25:31-46New International Version (NIV)

The Sheep and the Goats

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
⁴⁴ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
⁴⁵ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
⁴⁶ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

In the Bible, old age is considered the positive and good fulfillment of a life devoted to God. Both the blessings and responsibilities of aging are to be accepted with gratitude and in a sense of stewardship, “For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment” (2 Timothy 1:7).

Families have an obligation to provide for their aged members.
“Now if anyone does not provide for his own relatives, and especially for his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:8).

How are you doing, taking care of the older folks in your church?

God bless,
Marty