Every now and then, it’s nice to hear from older people, like somebody has said; older people are not always right, but often remember when they thought they were.
King Solomon’s son, Rehoboam was one of those young men, his late Father’s older friends gave him counsel which 2 Chronicles 10 shows he ignored, this single event, led to what we know as the devastating all-time division between the nation of Israel, into two, Judah and Israel.
Rehoboam’s decision to consult “the young men who had grown up with him” (I Kings 12:8) may not come off a strange thing in our country, after all, we are a country of few older folks too.
And examples are not further than my own. I find it challenging that most of my peers are like Rehoboam’s, they tell me what I want to hear, often cheering on my Ignorance, as I settle for largely Twitter-bred wisdom.
Yet life rarely works like that, all of us need constant reminders, constant reminders that we are not the first on this path, this marriage path, this spiritual path, this financial path.
You and I can learn volumes from the marriages that haven’t worked for example, we are wise if we tap into older people conversations concerning life/work balance, finances, faith, name it. We are even much wiser if that counsel is consistent with scripture.
By watching lifestyles of faithful older Christians for example, believers can learn what a glorious legacy a life lived in the gospel can leave behind. We can look at their ailing bodies and remember that, unlike what the TV ad says, we too won’t be strong forever.
Old age is not to be ignored; we may be one of the youngest nations in the world and prove we aren’t a country of unwise Tweeps too.
We can learn from those who have gone before us. We do well when we, unlike Cormack McCarthy’s aptly titled novel “No Country for Old Men,” prove to be learners from older folks, don’t we?
MULEEFU 