Should We Retire?

With assistance, the aging preacher slowly made his way up to the podium as one of the keynote speakers at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention. Still recovering from a stroke and other medical issues, he was attached to an oxygen tank as he delivered his historical message on Sola Scriptura.

I remembered back to my seminary days. Driving an hour to classes, I used to listen to well known evangelical preacher, R.C. Sproul, on the radio. He always pushed me to think a little deeper and I appreciated his historical perspective on what he preached. Now, as I find myself about twenty years behind him, he’s inspiring me in a different way.

Don’t ever give up.

Don’t ever retire.

Preach the Word, until your last breath.

There is only one place in the Bible where it speaks about retirement. In Numbers 8:25, priests were required to retire from regular service at age 50, but they were still able to assist the younger priests in service.

Otherwise, God never tells us to hang it up.

In Psalm 71, the psalmist pleads, “Do not cast me away when I am old; do not forsake me when my strength is gone.” Then he adds, “Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your mighty acts to all who are to come.”

I come from maternal grandparents who worked into their eighties, but there are days when I question God’s call on my life. What about you?

Between three ministries I work with, Pearls of Promise included, I move almost as fast as I did in my twenties and occasionally ask, “Is there something you want me to give up?” “Am I supposed to slow down?”

But then the Lord puts someone in front of me like Reverend Sproul or popular Bible teacher, Kay Arthur, still going strong in her eighties, and I think, “The best is yet to come!”

So today, if you are over fifty and wondering if your better days are behind you, don’t believe it. It’s a direct message from the enemy of the faith who desires to silence you.

Instead, embrace your later years and share your wisdom with the younger generation, starving for truth. Pray God will help you overcome any health issues and as Paul so eloquently said in 1 Timothy 6:12, “Fight the good fight of the faith.”

As long as we are on this Earth, we are called to serve the one who put us here. As you check off the boxes on your bucket list, retirement is not an option. (LBW)