My dear readers,

1. The "slippery age" of youth

Solomon, writing in the concluding chapter of Ecclesiastes, exhorts young people with these words:

"Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them."(Eccl 12:1)

It is the joy of believers to gratefully remember their Creator Redeemer for the days of vibrant youth – days which unfortunately fly away all too quickly.

The thoughtless young man speaks too easily such thoughtless words like, "Youth is for fun and frolic, but old age is for serious contemplation." The wise king says, "No, not so." The best time for constructive contemplation is in the days of youth! Young men and women, think soberly and with God-given wisdom! Do not wait till frailty and the faults of age catch up then you take stock of the realities of life.

Before you realize it, frailties of life have descended on your vulnerable frame and you find physical limitations and handicaps have set in and things you once did with ease are beyond even your dreams. So, the lesson then is to do those things which you fancy while you can – NOW, with God’s help!

2. Hear what another leader of men has to say

The leader among men, whose experience surpasses all others, can give us worthwhile advice. His name is Moses – the greatest of them all. Who, like Moses, had the unique experience of leading some 2 million men, women and children for 40 years through the wilderness, from Egypt to the Promised Land – Israel? For 40 years, Moses, assisted by Joshua, led Israel – men, women and children – to the Promised Land. What an experience!

With such first-hand experience, leading 2 million of God’s own people, Moses wrote Psalm 90. No one else could have written about human experience as Moses. In verse 10, he wrote:

"The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away."

How very true!

I quote from "Believers’ Bible Commentary" by William MacDonald, p 688:

"The scene is the wilderness of Sinai, years since the spies returned to Kadesh Barnea with their report. The people are still trekking in the desert but get nowhere. It was an exercise in futility.

Each morning a communique like this one comes to Moses’ tent with the report of casualties – deaths, deaths and more deaths. Obituaries are the main item of news, the desert seems to be an expanding cemetery. Every time the people break camp, they leave behind another field of graves.

On this particular day, Moses, the man of God, had all he could take. Overwhelmed by the mounting toll, he retreats into his tent, prostrates himself on the ground, and pours out his prayer unto God."

We, in somewhat better circumstances may not agree with all that Moses wrote, but the essence is little different. Sooner or later, we all "fly away"!

3. Yes, "we fly away"

It is a question of "Why?" Why do we all "fly away"? For answer read Genesis Chapter 3. The reason why all men must "fly away" (die) is plainly given in Psalm 90:10. For this reason, God gave us His Son, that all who receive Him as Saviour may have eternal life. God sent us the Saviour –"Who hisownself bare our sinsinhisownbodyon the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed" (1 Pet 2:24). We, believing in the Redeemer Jesus, have life eternal.

Before we end, ponder again the words of Moses in Psalm 90:10. To live long, beyond the proverbial "threescore years and ten", has its price – old age diseases and the cost of medical care and doctors’ fees! (Isn’t this "labour and sorrow" – living long?)

The secret is not to live long but to live well, with God’s blessing.

Yours faithfully in the Saviour’s Service,
Dr SH Tow, Sr Pastor