Age Is No Excuse
Someone who obviously had experienced both youth and old age defined middle age as “a brief period of time between being too young to do something and being too old to want to.” Do you see any truth in that definition?
Too often we call our young people “the church of tomorrow.” Whether it’s intended or not, the implication is they’re too young to serve God today. And how many times has a “seasoned” brother or sister declined to help in the nursery or teach a class with the excuse they’re too old and it’s time for someone younger to take a turn?
God wants his followers of all ages to use the gifts he has given them to serve others. Those gifts may be used in different ways when you’re young versus when you’re old, but he still expects you to use them.
Timothy apparently started ministering at a young age, because Paul encouraged him to “Let no one despise your youth” (1 Timothy 4:12). And at the other end of the age spectrum is Caleb, who at 85 boldly stated, “I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me… so now give me this hill country…, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities… and I shall drive them out just as the Lord said” (Joshua 14:11-12).
David was probably still in his early teens when he set an example for the older, more experienced Israelite soldiers by relying on God to help him kill the nine-foot-tall bully who had taunted them every day for 40 days (1 Samuel 17). And then there’s Anna, the 84-year-old widow who “did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day” (Luke 2:37).
Does someone think you’re too young to serve the Lord? Don’t let them stop you.
Is someone telling you you’re too old to answer God’s call? Pick up the phone anyway. With God, age should never be an excuse. Follow the examples of young Timothy and old Caleb, young David and old Anna, young Josiah and old Moses, young Samuel and old Sarah.
God does not accept age as an excuse for not serving him.