I was talking with my grandsons about eating spinach. I told them about Popeye the sailor man who ate spinach and got strong.
“But it never worked for me,” I said.
“Too old?” five-year old Caleb asked innocently.
I stopped, surprised, to digest what he said, then burst out laughing. He didn’t know what tickled me. Better to laugh than to cry I guess.
Limitations.
Too old? We put limitations on ourselves and others put them on us. “I can’t because …” “You can’t because…”God doesn’t limit us. His only limitation is that we can’t do what He hasn’t told us to do. When He says to do it, anything goes.
Too old to lead? Tell 80-year old Moses. Too old to command a victorious military force against powerful, entrenched opposition? Tell that to 85-year old Caleb.
Too young to do anything for God? Tell that to (maybe) 17 year old David. Too young to prophesy to a nation? Tell that to Jeremiah.
Too few to get the job done? Try telling that to Shammah.
“And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines had gathered together into a troop where there was a piece of ground full of lentils. So the people fled from the Philistines. But he stationed himself in the middle of the field, defended it, and killed the Philistines. So the LORD brought about a great victory.” 2Sa 23:11, 12
And there’s no lack of modern illustrations which inspire us to dare to obey God.
You can’t do it? Tell it to God, not to me.
And would someone tell my grandson that I’m not that old?
____________________
Hmmm …
“Some gold in God’s Word is only exposed by the erosive water of life’s experiences. We read a verse twenty times but then we read it again when we’re going through a certain trial and we say, “Aha! Now, I know what he meant.—