I ain’t getting any younger.

After a long day of travel in the car, I’m sore the next day. When did riding in a comfortable vehicle start leading to aching muscles? I always keep my eyeglasses close, and even swinging a golf club requires a round of stretching. To repeat the well-used phrase, aging’s not for the weak of heart.

Which is why I find these words from the psalmist so hopeful: The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon…They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, “The Lord is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.”

While my joints may calcify, my spirit can stay as supple as a palm tree in a tropical breeze. I notice lots of people grow increasingly bitter as they age. But this doesn’t have to be the case. A relationship with the Lord renews inner strength and yields a positive attitude toward others.

I can experience the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control—to the end of my days. I will bless the people around me, even the young annoying ones, by holding on to the Rock of my salvation.

The wasting away of my body does not mean I must experience the wasting away of my soul. The older I get the more beautiful that sounds.

Psalm 92 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Oziel Gómez

After every football game I point out what certain players could have done better. If only they’d caught that pass, or juked another direction, and a loss would turn into a victory. All is clear from my couch, but then again I’m not on the field running full speed away from large individuals looking to plow me into the ground.

It’s easy to pontificate, much harder to perform.

John the Apostle reminded us that we gotta walk the talk in regards to living out our faith: Little children, let us not love in words or talk but in deed and in truth.

Much of what passes as loving is simply words. Social media posturing. Clicking the like button. Telling others what to do. Everyone preaches but no one listens. I fail to notice deeper needs when I’m busy talking.

Better to quietly practice love than boldly announce my good intentions. Virtue signaling lingers like the smell of yesterday’s fried fish, and is about as welcome.

Getting off my couch takes work. I’ll fumble at times and might even get hurt in the process. But loving in deed and in truth requires more than talk from this Monday-morning quarterback.

I John 3 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Keith Johnston

The Lord expresses fantastic patience, never wanting anyone to perish. Way more than I show for others. But his patience for those who claim to know and follow him depends to a certain degree upon ourselves.

They made their hearts diamond-hard lest they should hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore great anger came from the Lord of hosts. “As I called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear,” says the Lord.

So the Lord spoke through Zechariah his prophet to the Jews in captivity. We don’t like to think about it, but it’s possible by our actions to close the ears of the Lord. I possess the ability to bake my attitude towards God diamond-hard.

Much of popular thinking holds the Lord as totally gracious, glossing over our foibles, slights, hatreds and sin. As long as we don’t kill anyone, we’re good. But such a god exists only in the uninformed mind.

The God of the Scriptures (indeed the only God who exists) looks to knead our hearts into softness. If I let him break the crust by allowing the Holy Spirit to speak through his words—and if I act upon them—then the Lord will hear me when I call.

I need to tap on my heart. If there’s no give, then something’s wrong. The hardness and luster of a diamond makes for beautiful jewelry, but unyielding cynicism is the wrong quality for a heart tuned to the Lord.

Zechariah 7 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Edgar Soto

Thanksgiving became an official U.S. holiday in 1863, smack in the middle of a bloody civil war. Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.

What are you thankful for? I’m thankful for family, friends, health, interesting work, insightful travel and good food, just to name a few. This is the day to take a few quiet minutes to reflect on the Lord’s goodness in your life.

Oddly enough, Thanksgiving is now surrounded by Black Friday sales. It seems a blink of thankfulness flits by in the midst of frenzy, difficult to catch and hold. But give it a grab. By taking time to reflect on what I’m thankful for, I worry less about holiday eruptions and enjoy more those around me.

As I reflect on the goodness of the Lord towards me, I’m encouraged by this verse from Colossians 3:15: Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

I can choose to be thankful. And today, Thanksgiving Day, yields no better opportunity.

Photo by Brooke Lark