On Getting Old(er)

I am now 28 years old. In a few months, I'll be 29. It is hard not to think that we take too long to grow up in our society. It takes us 18 years to acquire an elementary education. We require 4 more years to "major" in some broad field. For many, another two or three years might be occupied with a specialized degree of "mastery" or even a "doctorate." Add to this a few years of floundering about in extended adolescence and indecision and one finds oneself staring down thirty years without a whole lot to show for it.

I have been thinking this way a lot lately. Add to it the fact that three of my heroes never even saw their thirtieth birthday and it is easy to get depressed. These three are:

Henry Scougal (1650-1678) - The son of a British bishop, he wrote The Life of God in the Soul of Man as an explanation of the Christian faith. It was trumpeted by George Whitefield as one of the works which help convert him. One finds a clear portrait of grace in this book and Jonathan Edwards certainly borrowed from Scougal in his own vision of the divine. Scougal's famous asserton is, "The worth and excellency of a soul is to be measured by the object of its love." He died of tuberculosis near his 28th birthday.

David Brainerd (1718-1747) - American Presbyterian missionary to the Native Americans in Pennsylvania and Delaware. His memory would be unknown to us were it not for the publication of his biography and Journal by Jonathan Edwards. One cannot help but feel humbled about how Brainerd's communion with God compelled him to "retire to the wood to pray" with extraordinary fervor. He too died of tuberculosis at 29.

Jim Elliot (1927-1956) - American missionary to Ecuador whose life and passion has been widely documented in his Journal and in the book by his wife Elisabeth, Through Gates of Splendor. In this book, he states, "God makes his ministers a flame of fire. Am I ignitable? God deliver me from the dread asbestos of 'other things.'" God answered that prayer and sent Elliot to the Auca Indians who would eventually kill he and his friends. This tribe would later be reached by the gospel of grace. A lasting epitaph of Elliot's life is also found in his Journal, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."

Rather than getting despondent, their lives serve as a challenge to my own. It shows me that today ought to be my greatest concern for living out my calling. Making the most of today is far more important than pining over yesterday or betting on tomorrow. We are called to 'buy up the time, for the days are evil' (Eph. 5:16).

May the lives of these men challenge all of us 'twentysomethings' not to take for granted the days that are given to us. May we also labor toward the callings God has placed upon these lives of ours. May we redeem the time while we have it.