"Is not wisdom found among the aged?" (Job 12:12).

This last Saturday we rejoiced with Dave and Millie, an older couple in our church who celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary this month. This May Brooksyne and I will be about 1/2 way to their point as we will celebrate our 29th. I mentioned yesterday having fellowship with a young couple just married last month. As we were talking about Dave and Millie's 60th, I calculated that this couple will have their 60th anniversary in 2065, should the Lord tarry!  

Life does come at you fast.  Actually in 1945 when Dave and Millie married the year 2005 surely seemed even more remotely far off than 2065 sounds to us. After all, it involved a new century and millennium. But here they are - a testimony to promises kept.

I have no idea how much formal education they have. I don't know how well-traveled or how "smart" they would be, reckoned by the standards of the world. But I have observed a steady, solid wisdom as we have shared together on numerous times through the years.

Job asked a question many millennium ago* that surely demands an affirmative answer. "Is not wisdom found among the aged?" Surely not all the aged are wise. Many have lived their lives foolishly and remain in such a condition.

But I am blessed to know so many who have endured the rough knocks of life and have slowly matured in their Christian walk as year by year they have grown in the grace and knowledge of Christ. They truly offer timeless wisdom.

And now at 50 it's increasingly going to be my turn and I hope I have the same wisdom outlook to offer to those that follow me. The other night I shared with the young couple (both in their early 20's) how I recall at their age seeing people that were my age now as "old". I sure don't feel old now! I'll stretch out this middle-aged period as long as I can. But again life comes at you fast!

What about you today? Are my elderly friends demonstrating godly wisdom so needed by the generations that follow? If you are my age and younger are we building on the Rock, progressively attaining the true wisdom to pass along to those that will come behind us?  Let's do it!


Be encouraged today,


Stephen C. Weber

I read a great story yesterday of a wise grandmother and the input she gave her young grandson and his touching response:
An elderly woman and her little grandson, whose face was sprinkled with bright freckles, spent the day at the zoo.  Lots of children were waiting in line to get their cheeks painted by a local artist who was decorating them with tiger paws.  A young girl in the line said to the little fellow, "You've got so many freckles, there's no place to paint!"  Embarrassed, the little boy dropped his head.  His grandmother knelt down beside him, "I love your freckles.  When I was a little girl I always wanted freckles," she said, while tracing her finger across his cheek.  "Freckles are beautiful!"  The boy looked up, "Really?"  "Of course," said the grandmother, "Why…just name me one thing that's prettier than freckles."  The little boy thought for a moment, peered intensely into his grandmother's face, and softly whispered, "Wrinkles."
(I read this in "Bits of Sonshine", a newsletter for nursing home ministry)

Note from Brooksyne:  The cute story about the grandmother and her grandson demonstrates wisdom that comes from the "aged" and the innocence that comes from "out of the mouths of babes."  God blesses and uses the very young and the very old to make a very positive difference in our lives.

All of Job 12 is a powerful statement regarding true wisdom:

* Bible scholars believe that Job likely lived during the patriarchal period some 4,000 years ago!