…flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. (1 Corinthians 15:50-53, ESV)
There are many reasons why we have the PGA TOUR Champions. I, for one, am a big fan. I still love watching Couples, Els, Padraig, Stricker, and….
Among the many reasons we have this tour for “older” gunslingers is they can no longer compete against the “flat bellies.” Though rare, a few of them occasionally circle back and contend on the PGA Tour or in one of the Majors.
It feels like yesterday we witnessed Tom Watson come within a whisker of winning The Open at age 59! If there were ever to be an unbreakable record, that was it. Though he came up a tad short, that moment remains etched in many minds as some of the finest play in the history of competitive golf.
These “greats,” no matter their burning desire to contend at the highest level, eventually must come to grips with their diminishing physical capacities: Driving distance plateaus and falls off, putting abilities falter, and their nerves aren’t what they used to be. Yep! The “Old Grey Mare, she ain’t what she used to be.”
For you that are a “little long in the tooth,” you can readily identify with diminishing physical abilities. Despite your skill level at age twenty-five, you are acutely aware of accelerating attrition. Aging can be a tough reality to face.
I vividly remember Doug Sanders saying, “I wish life would start as an old man and move toward being younger.” There is a lot in this, but there is no doubt Doug was wrestling with aging and his mortality.
As more than a few have sighed, “Growing old ain’t for the faint of heart.” I get a kick out of how often playing partners around my age ask for Advil before we tee off; sometimes, I get hit up again as we make the turn.
I want to go on record and thank whoever discovered, invented, or created Voltaren (an anti-inflammatory cream). Man, oh man! That stuff is amazing. If there are negative side effects, please don’t tell me.
Of the many things we should admire about Scripture, one is that it doesn’t “pull any punches.” As Jesus speaks to us through the written word, he holds up the mirror of truth, lovingly confronting us with issues we would rather deny or ignore.
It is rarely, if ever, pleasant to discuss, but We Are Going to Die. Ouch! No way around it! We live between the bookends of birth and death. How to understand this sad reality is worth probing.
If you believe in Naturalistic Evolution, then death is the last hurdle humanity will overcome. According to this theory, humanity will eventually solve the riddle of death and live forever. Good luck with that!
However, if you trust the only one who has ever come back from the grave in an immortal body, then the answer to aging and eventual death lies in the return of Christ Jesus from heaven to rescue, restore, and remake our mortal bodies with immortal ones fitted to live forever in a completely renewed cosmos where the “curse” has been abolished. Personally, I am “betting” on Jesus!
You might ask, “How does one get in on this?” The answer is as simple as it is profound—Give your life to Jesus Christ through trust and repentance. How would you know that you had genuinely made this move? Among other things, you will discover new desires and the power to obey his commands.
Prayer: Maranatha- Come, Lord Jesus!