A person can live a happy productive life even as he grows older. Oftentimes when one is growing older, he loses his desire to learn and thus he becomes the walking dead. I am convinced that learning is good for one’s health. We must never get too old to sit at the feet of the fatherly-wise and learn. Learning from books is wonderful and should be a daily practice. However, nothing will ever take the place of sitting at the feet of an old wrinkle faced conqueror of life…learning truth from his wisdom and experiences. Such a man proudly wears the battle scars of life knowing that he has earned every one of them by overcoming the obstacles of life.
He now rejoices knowing that he is more able to fulfill Romans 12:1.
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”
For the most part, I have found that it really didn’t make any real difference what the old talk about, as long as they talk. In sifting through their words and stories you soon discover spiritual nuggets that are ageless.
I remember growing up in the country where everyone had hand dug water well. Each well had a bucket, a rope, and a pulley for drawing water out of the well.
There were a few of us who actually had a hand pump on our wells. The challenging thing about a hand pump was to keep it from loosing its prime.
When a pump loses its prime you have to pour water in the top of the pump while pumping up and down on the handle like crazy until water comes out.
I was continually making new leather washers for our old pump hoping it would stop loosing its prime. My victories were always short lived and I would soon find myself priming the old pump once again in order to get a bucket of cool fresh water from the well.
These same priming principles apply to old folks as well. Like the hand pump on the well, you usually have to prime them a little in order to get their wisdom flowing. Priming old folks means you have to ask specific questions in order to get specific answers.
I personally make a habit of priming everyone I meet who is older than I am…hoping to learn something new that will help me in my own journey. If I have learned anything over the years, it’s that old folks possess a sweet nectar called wisdom that I long for so that I can become wiser myself.
It’s amazing that the gems that pour forth from those of the previous generation can be life changing for those of us who are hungry and teachable in this present generation.
My hair is now gray and my once smooth skin is now furrowed with wrinkles that seem to shout to the whole world that I’ve been around awhile. The fact is, it doesn’t really matter what I look like on the outside as long as I know that I’m still a strapping young boy on the inside wanting to learn. If life has taught me anything, it’s taught me that I need to learn from the wisdom and experience of others.
Father,
I want to always be a learner. I want to grow continually in knowledge and wisdom as Jesus did when He was a young boy. Help me to always seek out and learn from those with whom you want to speak to me through. Over the years, you have put many of the fatherly–wise in my path so that I may become wiser.
Thank you for trusting me with the old and their wisdom. I will be faithful to pass that wisdom on to others who are thirsty for a cool drank of wisdom water from my well.
Amen.
The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge: but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness. Prov 15:14 MKJV
Apostle John Dean Copyright 2009 All Rights Reserved
Alliance International Ministries