For Me To Live

I don't know how many years I have left to live. I can say, however, like David - "I once was young but now am old." Likewise, I can speak, as he did, about what I have "seen" and "not seen" in life. (Psalm 37:25) Also, like him, I have often queried this question in my mind and to the Lord - "How many are the days of thy servant?" (119:84) As I have become somewhat elderly and weak, no longer having the strength and vigor of youth and middle age, I have asked this question even more in my mind.

If God grant me either a very short or extra long time, from this point forward, to what purpose? Simply to exist and do little other than struggle to stay alive? Or, to "enjoy" retirement years in the sense of indulging the flesh? To watch TV? To play games? To eat, drink, and be merry? Or, to find a way to more deeply draw near to the Lord and walk with him? To enjoy his peace and presence? To find a way to do more to serve the Lord with the additional free time that comes with old age and retirement?

If I live one more week or twenty more years, let

1. the inward man in me be renewed day by day as the body deteriorates and weakens

2. me finish the apologetic works I have spent my life constructing and be of use to others

3. me more fully work out my own salvation with fear and trembling

In a word, to keep the resolve of the Apostle Paul when he said:

"For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." (Phil. 1:21)