Serve at Every Stage of Life

“After that, they may assist their brothers in fulfilling their duties at the Tent of Meeting, but they themselves are not to do the work. This is how you are to assign responsibilities to the Levites.’” Numbers 8:26 BSB

In a video that was aired by the Longview News Journal, a 73-year-old man was captured crossing the finish line of a 60km ultramarathon. The writer deemed the video “the incredible moment an inspirational pensioner proved age is just a number,” and went to describe how engineer Ernesto Adaya, 73, had braved the tropical morning heat, jogging along the mountainous marathon trail in a remarkable feat of endurance in Davao del Sur province, the Philippines. He was met with cheers and applause as he shuffled across the finish line at a school in Digos City, completing the eighth 'Davao City to Digos City Ultramarathon' on September 3. Ernesto finished the 37.3 miles marathon in a time of 11 hours and 24 minutes. Footage shows event organisers Team Kapwa Davao congratulating the elderly athlete, who is part of the city's jogging club, and awarding him a medal for finishing the race. Exhausted from physical exertion, the septuagenarian nearly stumbled and was escorted by staff out of the scorching heat, which saw temperatures climb to 32 degrees Celsius.

And you know, as inspiring as Ernesto is, he’s certainly not the norm for men his age since profound changes begin to take place after the age of 50. Which is the very reason our running and the way we (both men and women) serve in the church will change as we age—something that has been true since the days of Moses when the Lord designated men between the ages of 25 and 50 to take part in the work of heavy lifting and strenuous manual labor at the tent of meeting. After that, the men were to continue their service by assisting their brothers to carry on the hard work. In other words, they were still called to serve as we all are, but they were called to do it in a different way… a way more suited to their mature season of life and one that would pass the baton to the next generation.

So remember that we are all called to serve for a lifetime my friend. We may retire from hard labor but there’s always something we can do in the family of God to be sure that the work never stops. 

Heavenly Father, thank You for reminding us that our service to You will look different at every age. Lord, please help us to determine what our job is in our current season of life and then give us the energy to do it with all our heart and might knowing that there’s no insignificant job in the body of Christ. It’s in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen. 

Happy Running!