A good old age has been cynically defined as “an age at which a man is good for nothing;” but it is our own fault if we are good for nothing in old age. The old can help the rising generation by sympathy and advice, and do much to prevent them from rising in the wrong direction. (Quiver.)
Age in the service of God
The late Mr. George Muller, of Bristol, sent this testimony as a message to Christian Endeavourers: “The joy of serving God increases with the multiplying years. I have never had more delight in the work of the Master than now, at the end of more than threescore years and ten. The richest blessings will be discovered in the path of service.”
Beautiful old age
How beautiful it is to see a man, below whose feet time is crumbling away, holding firmly by the Lord whom he has loved and served all his days, and finding that the pillar of cloud, which guided him while he lived, begins to glow in its heart of fire as the shadows fall, and is a pillar of light to guide him when he comes to die. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
A peaceful retrospect
The only life that bears being looked back upon is a life of Christian devotion and effort. It shows fairer when seen in the strange cross lights that come when we stand on the boundary of two worlds--with “the white radiance of eternity” beginning to master the vulgar oil lamps of earth--than when seen by these alone. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
