Retirement! The golden years! Here is a period of time to which many look forward throughout their working years. Plans are made, pensions are maximized, dreams are put on hold, all awaiting that magic number of years of service for the company, or that required age to receive the pension. In many countries, lower birth rates have pushed that age further along, but with improved health care, most retirees can still plan on 10-15 years of continued life and, hopefully, health to enjoy those years, hoping, as the poet Robert Browning penned years ago, that it will prove to be “the last of life for which the first was made.”
The Fatal Mistake
Hopefully, this article will fall into the hands of some who are still years from retirement. If so, it may prevent a costly mistake. Some are always meaning to begin to live for God in the future. For a few, that involves putting off serving the Lord until retirement – “Then I will have the time and liberty to do what I would love to do for Him.” The sobering reality is that if I cannot serve the will of God right now, where I am, working in my occupation as I am doing, it is highly unlikely that I will ever do so in the future. A pattern of life is developed in early years; holy habits are formed in the everyday work-home-assembly cycle of life and are the ones that remain with us.
Retirement brings with it added time and opportunity, but if work, vacations, golf courses and cruises have been my life up until retirement, they will likely continue to dominate my thinking. While these pursuits have their place in life, if they have become central to my life, they will continue to have that place in retirement. Never postpone serving the Lord where you are.
The Dangerous Mentality
But retirement presents its own unique set of problems. There are no days off, no holidays, no vacations. Every day is the same. There is no routine, no schedule. With an abundance of time, self-discipline can become lax, and productivity can plummet. Yet, if retirement years are wisely invested, the return on investment (ROI) can be gratifying to you and glorifying to God.
Many who have been involved in high pressure and busy occupations will confess that the need to manage their time has been a key to any preservation in spiritual life. They have learned that they can never find time to read and pray. They must make the time for reading and prayer. They cannot find time to prepare for Bible reading and ministry; they must make that time by avoiding activities that waste time. In other words, the very busyness of life has taught them how to manage time for spiritual preservation.
Laxity in self-discipline, in “redeeming the time,” with the excuse that “I have lots of time” is a dangerous mentality. Some of us may well be more time-conscious and prone to self-discipline than others, but all humans thrive on having goals and purpose in life. Be aware of the danger of thinking that now my time is my own to do with as I please. God has redeemed us so that we might redeem the time He has given to us.
The Scriptural Mandate
Allow me to bring a few Scriptures together to suggest our responsibilities as retirees. The Psalmist tells us that we are to “bring forth fruit in old age” (Psa 92:14).1 Peter, putting his pen down as a man in his 60s, reminds us in his sign-off message, “Grow [and continue to grow] in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2Pe 3:18). I turn to Titus 2 and read there that the older sisters are to mentor the younger sisters and mothers; older men are to exhort and mentor younger men to be sober minded. All of us are told at every point in life to “redeem the time … understanding what the will of the Lord is” (Eph 5:16-17).
If you have been zealous in the gospel during your work life, you now have more opportunity for tract distribution, visiting to develop one-on-one relationships with neighbors, and even helping in gospel work where appropriate. Opportunities abound and the need is great. Avoid the danger of thinking that you have studied the Scriptures enough and that there is nothing else for you to mine from its pages. Hearken to Peter when he says, “Grow in … knowledge.”
Think of the broad array of possibilities opened to your vista by just the handful of Scriptures cited. There is visitation of shut-ins, of those hospitalized, or in nursing homes. There are young men to take to breakfast and discuss how they are faring in spiritual life, how they study the Scriptures, and the questions that fill their minds. You do not need to be a shepherd to shepherd young men. Our sisters who have had the experience and trials of family life can be a great benefit to others, especially younger sisters facing similar challenges. This does not warrant intruding into the private lives of others. But it is a scriptural mandate to be available and open to such ministry.
But returning to the Scriptures cited, note that there is an emphasis on “being” and not just “doing.” God’s mandate for our lives as we mature and age is that we become more like His Son. He is more concerned with my character than my capability. Likeness, not labor, heads the list of mandates for retirement.
And lest any should think that the writer has no time for family life, your “golden years” are a wonderful time to invest in the future of your grandchildren. Yes, it is nice to leave them some material blessing on your home-call, if possible, but far more important, what is really “pure gold” is to leave them a spiritual heritage communicated by closeness and investing in them. The last 15 years of Abraham’s life were lived out with Jacob by his side. Is that why Jacob wanted the birthright? Think of Naomi and her influence on her grandson. And what of Lois and Timothy?
If God grants you retirement years, invest them wisely in light of eternity, “giving all diligence” (2Pe 1:5).
1 Bible quotations in this article are from the KJV.
