52??

Fifty-two? Let’s see, that’s the number of cards in a deck...right? Wait, it’s the number of weeks in a year, huh? It’s also the number of white keys on a piano. Oh, I remember, 52 was one of my best friends number from high school football. Probably there are several other significance usages of the number 52. What doesn’t seem remotely possible is that 52 is the number of years I’ve been alive, as of this coming Friday, July 1st.

There’s been a series of TV commercials that have been on for a few years now that I’ve found quite intriguing In one setting, a young man on an airplane finds himself seated next to himself, only many years older. In another, a young man meets his older self as he peers in on his newborn child in the hospital nursery. I think the commercials are for some investment firm, but what captivated me about the ads was the thought of what would I tell my younger self. How about you? Whatever you age is, divide it by, say, half. Given only five minutes to talk to your younger self, what words of advice would you lend? Now, telling yourself to invest in something called Microsoft or Ebay doesn’t count for our scenario! No, what real words of wisdom would you tell that younger you? Think about it for a minute...

There are many drawbacks to getting older, most of them physical. I can’t dunk a basketball anymore, but oh there was a time... After three knees surgeries, I struggle to walk 18 holes of golf these days, but I can remember my friends and I walking courses from early in the morning till sunset...back in the day. There are other parts of getting older that are bothersome. For instance, the other day I found something that I’d been looking for days earlier, then forgot what it was I was looking for in the first place! Ever walk in a room and can’t remember why you came in there?

As I face my 52nd birthday this Friday, I’d like to think I’d have something worthwhile to tell 26-year-old Allen. Hopefully, with age comes wisdom, maturity. Age is not necessarily a factor in spiritual maturity, though it should be. The Bible tells us how we should be growing, spiritually: Starting at Hebrews 5:11 we read:

11We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. 12In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
Hebrews 6
1Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, 2instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3And God permitting, we will do so.
And down to verse 7...Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. 8But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned. 9Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case—things that accompany salvation. 10God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. 11We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. 12We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

Did your parents ever chart your growth on a wall or door frame of the house you lived in? Imagine their concern should you have failed to grow over a significant amount of time. Even more alarming to them would have been if you would have decreased in height from one period to another! Spiritually, we should be able to chart growth over a period of time as well. We should have advanced at some point in time to the "solid food" the writer tells us can more readily "distinguish good from evil." Still caught up in the same bad habits you had, say 10 years ago? Still struggling to break yourself away from those sins that you let into your life back in the 90's? Was this going to be the year you committed to daily Bible reading and prayer, but here it is halfway through 2011 and...?

Physical growth comes to a halt sometime in our late teens. We achieve a certain height, and then, that’s it. But spiritual growth should continue for the entirety of our lives. We should continue to be the "land that drinks in the rain" and bring forth "a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed," having the "same diligence to the very end." Paraphrasing all this, we need to keep on keeping on, whether at 32, 52, or 82.

So, what would you have told your younger self, had you had the chance? I know what I would have said. I’d tell 26 year old Allen to focus his life on spiritual matters. Concern yourself not with the worldly pursuit of money, career success, etc., but rather, invest in eternal rewards. Really get to know God and find His purpose for your life now, not years from now...And the conversation would end with me looking forward to what God has in store for me in year 53 because, in reality, we can’t really look back and change the past. But starting today, we can make the future what God would want it to be.