Invariably, the conversation turns to my own retirement.  I tell them the truth: I haven't really thought about it.  In fact, it's really not even on my radar screen.  Maybe someday in the future, but for now, I can't see not serving where God has placed me, doing those things He has given me to do, speaking what He has given me to speak.

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But I also started thinking about the fact that while there are some vocations we might retire from, there are some we never retire from.  For me, being a father, grandfather, son, brother, husband, neighbor, friend, and the like.  Sometimes, vocations are taken away from us--when your spouse dies or you are no longer physically able to fulfil a particular vocation.  There is a time for everything, Solomon once wrote in Ecclesiastes (Chapter 3).  But somehow and in some way, God will always use you as His blessing to others, as you love and care for those he has given to you, and as you receive their love.  And yes, receiving love is a vocation, too!  It may be more blessed to give than receive (Acts 20:25), but if no one receives, there is no one to give to!

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So no matter how old you are, no matter how able or disabled, there is no retirement from being a child of God and a person God is using to provide for others.  Your age changes, your abilities change, the people around you change, but your calling as a Christian never changes.  You're never too old or too young to love someone; you're never too old or too young to receive someone's love.  And you are never too old or too young to pray for others or speak a Word of God, His forgiveness, and His blessing.  From this we never retire.

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So how is God using you?  How has this changed through the years?  How might it change in the future?  What does He have in store for you?  Maybe you know, maybe you don't.  But whatever the future holds, it will be good, for you are a child of God, and that's your vocation now and forever.

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God's richest blessings! 

Pastor M. <t><

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