I Feel Old When ...

This past Monday morning one of the trending topics on Twitter was #IFeelOldWhen ....

Some of the tweets were pretty good:

#IFeelOldWhen "I still think of the 90s as 10 years ago."

#IFeelOldWhen "My teenager says 'nice outfit' and rolls her eyes."

#IFeelOldWhen "I realized The Simpsons came out over 26 years ago."

#IFeelOldWhen "It's time to pay my mortgage, car payment, insurance, electric bill, cell bill, Internet bill, water bill, etc."

#IFeelOldWhen "I see my old friends, and they are all married with kids."

These last two tweets appear to come from people in their 20s or 30s, which makes it rather obvious we start feeling the passage of time when we're still quite young. Elite athletes probably feel it more acutely than those of us who aren't. But eventually the relentless march of time becomes obvious to each of us.

One tweet that struck me was from an M.D.:

#IFeelOldWhen "I get to work and all the corpses to autopsy are younger than me. Boy, does that make me sad."

We Americans go to war against time and aging, throwing billions of dollars a year into anti-aging creams and plastic surgeries, but sooner or later we all have to admit it's a losing battle. Sure, we can slow our body's aging a bit with good nutrition, rest and exercise. And that is very good. It gives us more energy and, hopefully, healthy years to serve God by serving our family and neighbors. But ultimately when enough years roll along we too will grow frail and finally lose the battle.

"... You are dust, and to dust you shall return" (Genesis 3:19b). That's what Adam and Eve's disobedience won for all of us. But that's what makes the recently completed Easter season so wonderful. Jesus' perfect obedience has won for us a glorious future, even as He is risen from the dead and lives to all eternity. One day all of us who trust His great salvation and look forward to His return will stand before Him in glorious bodies of our own. It will be a perfect, immortal body that will never wear out, grow old, get sick, or die.

I wish I would have reminded my dad of that when cancer was returning his body to the dust. He was a man of faith who knew death wouldn't have the final say, but when he felt so weak, spent and useless, I wish I would have reminded him of his glorious future when that same weary body will be raised in glory: forever powerful, vibrant, radiant, filled with strength, skill and energy.

Sure, from time to time in this lifetime all of us will feel old when .... But take heart, that feeling won't last forever.

Someone once said that youth is wasted on the young. It kind of seems like it is too, but that doesn't mean there are not remarkable things left for us to do -- no matter what our age. Certainly, one of the most important things is remembering we have a God who will renew these old bones when He calls His children home to eternity.

I like that. In fact, I'm not thinking I'm quite so old anymore.

Any thoughts on this whole aging thing we go through? If so, click here and share them with your brothers out there.