There are moments in life, frozen forever, when one knows they are no longer the young ones. The awareness usually comes through a child – once a small package in someone’s arms, now a young adult struggling to understand what is going on all around them. The helplessness of days gone is replaced by the ability to play basketball, skate, run, drive, and make their own decisions. Their transformation occurs throughout each day, but for those involved the dawn is something that happens even more slowly than growth.
As my own awareness of gaining maturity (hopefully with age) increases my awareness of how things break down follows right along side. Kids are fighting the same problems I face with twisted ankles from playing sports and the tendency to put on a few pounds each year shows itself in virtually everyone I know. Cars that were new yesteryear look like well used books today. Tires purchased recently have tread bars showing quite clearly, but their owners, just like me, are still trying to deny their age.
Is everything doomed to fail at some point? Do buildings slowly rot, paint fade, tires go flat, endurance weaken, and people get slower with age? If this is true where does the warranty stop? Is anything not subject to an expiration date?
There is one exception. It is a fact that contradicts everything we know. “God’s gifts and God’s call are under full warranty – never canceled, never rescinded.” (Romans 11.29) One easily assumes that we must pay the ultimate price for such a gift but the mystery continues. Supporters often suggest that there are stiff requirements attached to receiving this gift; so the mystery deepens. God will never fail, rot, fade, go flat, weaken, or get slower. God has no expiration date. God cannot be bought or bribed or blackmailed. And if we try to do any of these things it will not make a difference, He will love us anyways and always!
There are days I know I am getting old. Thank God, I know my future is just beginning!
