I turned 50 on 4 Oct 2010. Half a century! Sounds like a long time but it's really like a twinkling of an eye. In another twinkling of an eye, I will be 70, what the Bible says, 3 scores and 10 years, i.e. 70 years.
Psalms 90:10
The length of our days is seventy years— or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.
I was asked last weekend at our church's Baptism and Encounter Weekend what were my "secrets" that kept me going for the last 50 years and keeping the passion. Interestingly, these were the answers I gave on my feet. Three quick answers:
1. Keep a close relationship with God.
2. Keep a close relationship with your family, especially your wife.
3. Keep a close relationship with yourself.
The first one is vital as God is the author and perfecter of our faith. When God is central, everything else falls into place.
The second one is crucial as the Bible is crystal clear: 1 Timothy 3:5 "If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?
Why do I say "especially your wife"? Because she is the closest person I can ever get to know and she's to be my best friend and partner! If I am not at peace in my home front, everything else will fall apart and I would not have the integrity to carry on.
Thirdly, know yourself with deep sense of humility. As a pastor, I am often very concern when people put us on a higher pedestal than we deserve. We are after all human and prone to all human frailties. The older I grow, the more I recognize my own shortcomings, and the more I need the Lord. No wonder Apostle Paul, the hero of our faith, says this:
So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!
That was in the context of the learning from the past failures of recorded human failings in the Bible and the ubiquitous temptations.
Keeping and maintaining a humble attitude will help us be a learner for life.
In our church bi-monthly magazine Floodgates, I wrote a series of articles titled: "Life Seasonings - Ten Principles I live by." It is a series of articles that I wrote as a form of personal reflection having lived life for almost half a century.
I will post the unedited version one principle at a time for the next few weeks. Hope you will glean some wisdom for yourself.
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