Despite the insistence in the New Testament that Jesus could come anytime at his second coming and hence the urgency and immediacy of ministry, yet the reality of it is a long road ahead. I have been in full-time ministry for nearly 21 years and if health holds, I think I may have another 21 years ahead of me before I meet my Maker or call it quits. As aging affects everyone perhaps in different ways, but very few have been able to do it in their late 70s. I know of a friend who is going on strong in his early 80s but this is an exception to the rule. Knowing my own body and its frailties I shall be pleased if the Lord should grant me another 15 years of active ministry. That's makes it 36 years in the Lord's work something I could not have imagined myself doing when I received the call to ministry as an 18 year old. At that time my thoughts of ministry were short term, explosive and going out in a blaze of glory.
All the idealism of youth is tempered by the experience of middle age and may the Lord grant us a heart of wisdom as we go from middle age to old age. With just a few more days before my Jubilee is over I think the Lord has a plan for me though I do not know it yet. In the meantime, I am spending my days, weeks and months caring for ewes and tending the lambs just as Jesus said if you love me feed my flock.
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