Thinking of Retirement as the Next Opportunity to Serve Christ
By Randy
Alcorn
When
it comes to the “retirement dream,” we must ask, “Whose dream is it?” It may be
the American dream—but is it God’s?
For
some people, retirement has replaced the return of Christ as the “blessed
hope,” the major future event that we anticipate. (Try doing a Bible study on
the subject of retirement—I guarantee you, it won’t take long!)
When
a man retires at sixty-five, studies show his chances of having a fatal heart
attack immediately double. Our minds and bodies were not made for an arbitrary
day of shutdown.
Nowhere
in Scripture do we see God calling healthy people to stop working. Of course,
it’s perfectly legitimate to work without pay. It’s your option to give labor
to ministry and volunteer work rather than to your present job.
But
as long as God has us in this world, He has work for us to do. The hours may be
shorter, the work different, the pay lower or nonexistent.
But
He does not want us to take still productive minds and bodies and permanently
lay them on a beach, lose them on a golf course, or lock them in a dark living
room watching game shows.
If
you have saved for retirement and no longer need to work for pay, then donate
your time working for the church, the poor or underprivileged children.
And
do not forget the great opportunity you have to become a self-supported
missionary for two or five or ten or twenty years. If you’re still here, God is
not done with you.
In
fact, your most fruitful years of ministry may be ahead. That’s true whether
you’re in a retirement home or anywhere else. God has a unique ministry for you
here and now. Do not kill time, any more than you would burn money. Instead,
invest it in eternity.
There
are different ways of dying. And there are different ways of living just
before we die. But for the Christian, all of them—the final living and the
dying—are supposed to make God look glorious. All of them are supposed to show
that Christ—not this world—is our supreme Treasure.
So
finishing life to the glory of Christ means using whatever strength and eyesight
and hearing and mobility and resources we have left to treasure Christ and in
that joy to serve people—that is, to seek to bring them with us into the
everlasting enjoyment of Christ.
Serving
people, and not ourselves, as the overflow of treasuring Christ makes Christ
look great.
…Finishing
life to the glory of Christ means resolutely resisting the typical American
dream of retirement. It
…If
we are going to make Christ look glorious in the last years of our lives, we
must be satisfied in him. He must be our Treasure. And the life that we live
must flow from this all-satisfying Christ.
And
the life that flows from the soul that lives on Jesus is a life of love and
service. This is what will make Christ look great.
When
our hearts find their rest in Christ, we stop using other people to meet our
needs, and instead we make ourselves servants to meet their needs.
This
is so contrary to the unregenerate human heart that it stands out as something
beautiful to be followed or something convicting to be crucified.
God never calls us to do something for Him that He does not empower us
to do if we are willing to do the work and time. Please, take the time to get
to know God in an intimate way.
As your relationship with Him grows, you move up in rank and are
assigned harder missions. Your purpose on earth is to shine God’s love to a
lost, dying world.
Your mission, if you should choose to accept it, is waiting for you!
Open your ears and your heart to the Lord and be excited about your new
future serving Him in truth and spirit.
Can
God change your life?
God has made it possible for you to know Him and experience an amazing change in your own life.
Serve Him.
Wait on Him.
And expect … for He is able to do much much more than you can ask or
imagine.
Settle that sin issue ...
“Father God, I
confess I am a sinner and my sins have separated me from You.
I am truly sorry. I now want to turn away from
my past sinful life and live a new life pleasing to You.
Please forgive me, and help me avoid
sinning again.
I believe that Your Son, Jesus Christ died
for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer.
I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my
life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Thank You that
according to Your Word, I am now born again.
Please send Your Holy Spirit to help me
obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of my life. I promise to study Your
Word – the Bible.
Use
me for Your glory.
In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.”
Related Posts:
“WHY
HAVE YOU CHOSEN ME”Rodger Strader
lyrics
Why have You chosen me out of millions Your child to
be
You know all the wrongs that I have done
Oh how could You pardon me, forgive my iniquities
To save me give Jesus Your son
You know all the wrongs that I have done
Oh how could You pardon me, forgive my iniquities
To save me give Jesus Your son
But Lord help me be what You want me to be
Your word I will strive to obey
My life I now give, for You I will live
And walk by Your side all the way
I am amazed to know that a God so great could love me so
Is willing and wanting to bless
His love is so wonderful, His mercy so bountiful
I can't understand it I confess
Your word I will strive to obey
My life I now give, for You I will live
And walk by Your side all the way
I am amazed to know that a God so great could love me so
Is willing and wanting to bless
His love is so wonderful, His mercy so bountiful
I can't understand it I confess
Randy Alcorn (@randyalcorn) is the author of over fifty books and the founder and
director of Eternal Perspective Ministries.
http://www.epm.org/blog/2014/Jul/4/retirement
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