The Christian in His Prime

I was chatting online with a friend last night. I was blathering about martial arts clips on youtube. He mentioned that there is a new movie out (The Forbidden Kingdom) starring both Jackie Chan and Jet Li together for the first time, and added something like, "though both of them are past their prime." Interesting statement, that. Certainly true in this case. Saying so in polite conversation means no disrespect to either of these accomplished athletes. Jackie Chan is fifty-three and Jet Li is forty-four. Although they are both still pretty amazing, there is no question that they have both lost some of their youthful speed.

What they have lost though in speed they have surely gained in technique and experience. (Keep in mind that the current UFC heavyweight champion, Randy Couture, is also forty-four years old, and still in great fighting shape with incredible endurance.) I remember listening to an actor being interviewed about his amateur boxing skills after five years of training. He said that he walked into a gym to train one day, and while working the heavy bag, saw a man approaching him. The man asked if he wouldn't mind sparring with him. The actor was twenty-five at the time, and he was rude enough to ask the other man's age. The man answered that he was fifty-five years old. The young actor said he was thinking to himself, "I'm going to kill this guy," and headed into the ring. He said that he spent the entire time getting his head knocked around by the older man.

When I think of these things, I think of guys like Caleb and Joshua and even Moses. All were older men who retained their youthful vigor. They all did amazing things to serve God into old age. My mother is eighty years old and still chops her own firewood. Last night, she intended to mow her lawn, but was a bit irritated when she could not get her lawn mower to start. She is something. I hope I am like that if I am still living on this earth at eighty years of age. The Lord though, knows what is best for me.

That is just it, isn't it? For the Christian, there should be no time past our prime, should there? The Lord said Caleb, "has followed Me fully". That should be the goal of a man or a woman, no matter what their age. Truly, as the body grows older, most people tend to lose some degree of their youthfulness. Even guys who participate in marathons at sixty will say that while they feel great, they don't have the juice they did at thirty. That shouldn't stop the mind though, or slow down the intellectual abilities we have. Even if the memory fades a bit, our desire to be used by the Holy Spirit whenever possible should be continually growing with more intensity over the years. It should bring us into ministry and keep us active in our pursuit of Sonship.

John Wesley, Richard Wurmbrand, Alan Redpath, guys like that, are examples of Christian men who made good use of their time into their old age. Unlike the fighter who grows older, gaining wisdom and experience to stay vital and active, but who ultimately must step out of the ring, the Christian must never retire. They need to know who they are, and to remember Who they serve. Worries about age and diminishment can be cured by remembering that we are to trust the Lord in these things too. They need to know in old age as never before that this world is not their home.

Everyone who labors into old age for Jesus Christ should count themselves blessed, because it is an extreme honor to serve Him. The outward man may be perishing, but the inward Christian man can be renewed every day, knowing that this life is temporary, and knowing also, that they are awaiting a heavenly tabernacle. As a martial artist of fifty years old, I may indeed be past my prime, but as a believer in Christ Jesus, I sincerely hope that my "prime" is still ahead of me. My desire to serve the Lord keeps growing. As my body gets older, I pray that my usefulness to God will only increase.