This subject is of universal interest. For none of us does time stand still!
Of course when we were very young time did appear to stand still. Adult conversations seemed so long and boring.
During schooldays time seemed to shorten or lengthen depending on whether we liked or disliked the subject we were supposed to be learning.
As young adults we entered a “timeless” zone where it could be stretched by “burning the midnight oil”. On these occasions sleep seemed to be an optional extra.
Adults seldom have enough hours in the day. Competing demands are juggled and compromises made as our priorities are revised again and again. Questions arise like, “how does he manage to all that he does?” And, “I don’t know how she manages to keep going with her workload” as we look at the lives of others?
Then we come to these years when calculating pension income or how to get by in its absence replace the time spent planning holidays.
We are now entering the world of Pensioners Outings when, guess what, your age becomes a major taking point! This time however it is coupled with health whereas before it was all to do with physique or beauty!
Moses, who lived for a fair old age himself, wrote in Psalm 90 that we are allotted 70 years but if health (and now pills) permits may hit 80.
However there is no cause for gloom as Caleb was 85 when he did some of his most famous exploits (Joshua Chapters 14 & 15).
The crucial thing which troubles our latter years is not how long we are here but where we are going. We may ask the doctor “how long have I got?” But the real answer is an eternity – it’s where we are to spend it that is the real issue.
When Jesus’ time had come to leave he had this to say, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me” (St John Chapter 14 verse 1). He’s not simply talking about faith in a Jesus of the history books but faith in a real person who loves you enough to die in your place bearing your sins, including the monumental one of not believing his word.
We need to repent of our unbelief as well as the other stuff. My Mother used to say it was too big an ask to make of God but it’s not. This is why he died. He is the way. There is no other.
Our accomplishments in this world St Paul says are as rubbish by comparison with knowing Christ as our Saviour (Philippians Chapter 3 verses 7-10). Don’t rely on anything you have done but trust completely on what Jesus has accomplished for sinners such as us.