GOOD NEWS FOR THOSE WITH MANY BIRTHDAYS
92:12-15 NKJV
12 The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree,
He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
13 Those who are planted in the house of the Lord
Shall flourish in the courts of our God.
14 They shall still bear fruit in old age;
They shall be fresh and flourishing,
15 To declare that the Lord is upright;
He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.
I once had a doctor who was performing an eye exam. She was very young and kind and explained to me that my need for reading and corrective lenses was a function of having many birthdays. I thought that was a nice way to tell me I was getting older. And though I consider old age as much of an attitude as it is a function of many birthdays, there is no getting around getting older.
But our verses for today are the good news that we can treat as more than simply nice words for grandpa and grandma. There is a truth here that we can latch onto. The promises are to those who are righteous. We can look at the righteous from two perspectives. The first is that we are made righteous, right with God, when we received Jesus as our Lord and became a new creation in Him. So we were made righteous in Christ. The second perspective is the righteous are those who are endeavoring to live their lives right before God. Because we have been made righteous in Christ, we have the ability to live right.
And because we are walking in connection with God, we flourish and grow. Obviously, this is talking about spiritual growth. We stopped growing physically many years ago. But the idea of staying connected is seen in the phrase "those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish." Planted in the house of the Lord makes me think of what Jesus said in John 15 when He said abide in Me. Jesus was speaking of staying connected to Him. He is the vine, and we are the branches. Staying connected to Him is staying connected to His life and strength. So when we stay, when we are planted, we flourish.
Now for the good news for those holders of many birthdays. We can still bear fruit in old age. This is one of the beautiful things about living connected to the Lord. Instead of reaching a spiritual peak and then having to tap out, we can still be fruitful. A literal translation says we shall be full of sap and green. A tree full of sap and green is a healthy tree. Because we are strong spiritually, we still got the juice, and we are still productive for God's kingdom.
We declare that the Lord is always right. He is our source of strength and will be until we leave this earth and head home.
PRAYER
Lord, thank You that You do not retire Your people with many birthdays. There are still opportunities to be fruitful and productive for Your kingdom.