Lean and Learn

UV 1597/10000 Lean and Learn
And even to your old age I am he; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.
Isaih 46 v 4

God is the One who carries us as a mother carries her child. He promises to be our guide until death. He has made us and therefore takes responsibility for us. The word “ carry” means He will protect, provide, guide, nourish, fend, lead and teach us. He will deliver and vindicate us. He makes this commitment to us when we get into a persona or covenant l relationship with Him. Our side of the covenant implies that we carry His word in our hearts as a sign of our commitment, obedience and love for God.

The promise contained in this uni-verse is a great assurance that all humans need as we pass through middle age and feel insecure as we think of the problems and prospects we face in old age: loneliness, ill health, financial insecurity, helplessness and so on. The Lord promises never to leave us alone but to carry us close to His heart. He promises to share our burden and make it seem much lighter. He sends us help and deliverance whenever and whatever way we need or expect it. The key factor to avail this blessing is that one needs to remember the Lord in our youth, grow in grace and faith. Then the Lord promises that we will be fat and flourishing in our old age. We will bear fruit even in old age. We will never feel forlorn nor forsaken at any point in our lives if we stick like a leech to the Lord. Our hope should be on the Lord and in His promises and not on the world or what the world can offer us.

Even our nearest and dearest will one day leave us but the Lord never leaves or forsakes us. Our dependence on our earthly parents comes down as we gain in age and maturity but our dependence on our Father in Heaven increases with age and vulnerability. We can sense the presence of the Holy Spirit all the time with us as we lean on the Lord. The more we lean on Him the more we learn. The draw or drag of earthly pleasures and attractions will become dimmer and dimmer as we draw closer to the Lord as the shadows of life lengthen. Like Caleb we can seek the anointing of the Lord that will make us as strong when we are very old as while we were in our prime.

Prateep V Philip