Just the other day I attended an extended family gathering. We were having a barbeque to celebrate the graduation of my nephew's oldest son. As is often the case-there were more lawn chairs than there were people. When I got up to reload my paper plate with more food, I returned to find my chair had remained empty. The members of my extended family had left it untouched, in anticipation of my return. This led me to the sobering realization that I had fully joined the senior section of our extended family and was now able to enjoy a fringe benefit associated with being a part of the older crowd. My chair, like other, older members of the family, was no longer seen as "up for grabs" when it became empty. I had arrived!
It's amazing how fast our lives go by. One day you're at the little kids table and then before you know it, you're the old guy whose lawn chair at the family barbeque is left untouched. Maybe that's what leads us to become set in our ways as we get older: we no longer have to struggle to keep a lawn chair at family get togethers? I'm not certain. I am, however quite certain that getting
older is not the issue. Getting older is not a problem. Becoming unable or unwilling to learn new things as we get older definitely is.
It seems that the older we get, the more tempted we are to be set in our ways. I keep working to correct that. I've come to see that the need to remain teachable is even more important now than when I first started out. In John 3 we read of another man who had been a teacher for many years. His Name was Nicodemus.
John 3:1-7 (NLT)
1 There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. 2 After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. "Rabbi," he said, "we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you."
3 Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God."
4 "What do you mean?" exclaimed Nicodemus. "How can an old man go back into his mother's womb and be born again?"
5 Jesus replied, "I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. 6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. 7 So don't be surprised when I say, 'You must be born again.'
There are many things in this narrative that I could focus on but I only want to key into one thing: Nicodemus was teachable. Granted, he was affected by peer pressure- so he went to Jesus at night-but he still sought out the Lord and humbled himself enough to ask questions. In his society, Nicodemus would be considered by most: a man with the answers. He was intelligent, distinguished, well educated and a senior, but he still needed answers and so he went to Jesus to be taught.
As you get older, are you remaining teachable? Are you willing to be taught and changed by new ideas? Are you still looking for truth or are you now settling for what's comfortable? I encourage you to go to Jesus with an open mind and heart so that His Spirit can teach you the Truth about God's Story?
There is much more to life than simply getting to the stage where we don't lose our lawn chairs anymore at the family barbeque.Life is a journey: A journey of asking questions and processing the answers.
In this life, I hope you come to believe: Jesus is always the Way, the Truth and the Life. Oh, and incidentally, He has a place for us that is far better than the best chair at the family barbeque.
