NEVER GROW OLD

A new year affects us in various ways.  But there is one thing we do have in common. For each of us a new year at least means that we are going to become a year older.  And being a year older also affects us in various ways.  For a teenager it might mean getting a year closer to being able to drive a car or begin college.  To a middle age adult it might mean being a year closer to retirement.  For a senior it might mean the reality of facing new physical challenges and being a year closer to the end of one's journey here on earth.  At times growing older can be a real challenge.  And it also can be very hard to watch loved ones grow older and reach their senior years.  Physical and even mental changes bring them to a point where they no longer have the ability or the energy to function as they have for most of their lives.  Even if they are sharp mentally, all become slower and gradually need more help. The body just wears out.  Parents often then become the children and the children become the parents.  Like many of you, I've watched my parents and my in-laws go through these years and it was often so very hard to watch and deal with these life changing events.  This is what James C. Moore (1888-1962) experienced.  While a seminary student, in 1914, he visited his hometown church.  While there he noticed his aging father who had led the singing for many years with a beautiful, strong voice was now singing with a faltering voice.  Moore said that he knew that he would not be hearing his father sing much longer and certainly never again with the strong singing voice he had shown all of his life.  Back at seminary, with the incident fresh in his mind, he composed the words to this week's hymn choice.  Lovingly he wrote, "Dedicated to my father and mother"  For unknown reasons the song was not published until 1930.  Then it became a very popular number and for almost the next 70 years it would be sung at funerals in America probably as much or more than any other gospel song.  Moore penned over 500 songs but this one certainly has been the most popular.  Jim Reeves and Johnny Cash helped make this song popular over the years, as have the Gather Homecoming videos in recent years.  At present we can't control the aging process as we move through the various seasons of life, but this gospel song reminds us of that coming time in the life of a believer where we will have new bodies that won't age or wear out in a new home that is being prepared with us.  What a joy and hope that it is to know, with certainty, that when our work here is done that we will be with Jesus in that beautiful home being built by Him.  Are the gradual changes brought on my aging affecting you yet?  If not, that time is approaching.  But rejoice in the knowledge that God is in control and a day is coming soon when we'll be relieved of these challenges.  We will receive new bodies and aging and its effects will be gone forever.  May that knowledge and hope flood your soul in the days ahead.

1. I have heard of a land on the faraway strand,

'Tis a beautiful home of the soul;

Built by Jesus on high, where we never shall die,

'Tis a land where we never grow old.

Never grow old, never grow old,

In a land where we'll never grow old;

Never grow old, never grow old,

In a land where we'll never grow old.

2. In that beautiful home where we'll never more roam,

We shall be in the sweet by and by;

Happy praise to the King through eternity sing,

'Tis a land where we never shall die.

Never grow old, never grow old,

In a land where we'll never grow old;

Never grow old, never grow old,

In a land where we'll never grow old.

3. When our work here is done and the life-crown is won,

And our troubles and trials are o'er;

All our sorrow will end, and our voices will blend,

With the loved ones who've gone on before.

Never grow old, never grow old,

In a land where we'll never grow old;

Never grow old, never grow old,

In a land where we'll never grow old.

You can listen to  part of this gospel song being sung here.  LISTEN1

You can here the entire song here.   LISTEN2