Even in Old Age

You will come to the grave in full vigor, like sheaves 
in season. Job 5:26

A man who once wrote about the salvaging of old ships
stated that it was not the age of the wood from the
vessel alone that improved its quality. The straining
and twisting of the ship by the sea, the chemical reac-
sion produced by the bilge water, and the differing
cargoes also had an effect.

Several years ago some boards and veneers cut from an
oak beam from an eighty year old ship were exhibited
at a fashionable furniture store on Broadway in NYC.
They attracted attention, because of their elegant color-
ing and beautiful grain. Equally striking were some
mahogany beams taken from a ship that sailed the seas
sixty years ago. The years of travel had constricted the
pores of the wood and deepened its colors, so that they
were magnificent and bright as those of an antique
Chinese vase. The wood has since been used to make
a cabinet that sits in a place of honor in the living room
of a wealthy New York family.

There is also a great difference between the quality of
elderly people who have lived listless, self-indulgent,
and useless lives and the quality if those who have
sailed through rough seas, carrying cargo and burdens
as servants of God, and as helpers of others. In the
latter group, not only has the stress and strain of life
seeped into their lives but the aroma of sweetness of
their cargo has also been absorbed into the very pores
of each fiber of their character.  Louis Albert Banks

Reader, as we celebrate our 47th anniversary today, this
piece is so encouraging. God means for us to be fruitful
and beautiful even into old age. I think one of the biggest
 'youth tonics' is to give Him thanks in all things. Try it.
You will come to like it. And your face will reflect His
goodness to you even in the hard times.