Sorry, I couldn't think of a better title. This is what comes to mind as I sit here stiff and sore from last night's scrimmage. Tonight my son Elijah is trying out for the Weymouth Junior Basketball Traveling League, so last night after dinner we went over to the church gymnasium to shoot hoops for awhile.
What started off as a casual shoot-around turned into an intense scrimmage, first one-on-one with between my son and me, then two-on-two as my others sons joined us. As the game wore on, I found myself asking questions like: How did he get so fast? How did I get so slow? Why do I hurt so much?
Admittedly, it had been awhile since I had handled a ball. And it showed. Though I was able to recover a few impressive moves from my glorious past, these were few and insufficient to convince me that I was anywhere near being "king of the court."
After we were done, my joints got sore and stiffened up pretty quickly. My "bum" knee (the right one) got swollen as it always does after any sort of athletic activity. The discomfort in my lower back caused me to toss and turn during the night.
All that to say: I'M GETTING OLDER AND THERE'S NOTHING I CAN DO ABOUT IT. Here I am saying this at age 40, and I can't help but wonder how I'll feel at 80 (if the Lord allows me to live that long)! My heart goes out to all our octogenarian readers!
The aging of my body could cause me to get discouraged (and frankly, sometimes it does), but it doesn't need to. There is a spiritual antidote to the emotional ailment that physical aging brings. The apostle Paul testifies to this in 2 Corinthians 4:16:
Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
Paul goes on to expound this principle in the verses that follow (4:17 - 5:8), explaining that the culmination of our earthly pilgrimage is to be absent from the body and to be present (at home) with the Lord.
I feel sorry for those who bank all of their enjoyment and sense of self-worth in the here and now, particularly as it relates to their physique or athletic prowess. I go to Planet Fitness to work out a few days a week. But there are people who practically live there. That's their life. Others make a god out of sports, and their happiness is derived from their athletic achievements. Even when they're beyond their prime, they relive the glory days. That's their life. It revolves around their body, their looks, their image before others.
But the fact is, we're all growing older. Our bodies are getting worn out like a weathered tent. That's why Matthew Henry said, "Even the best of men have need of further renewing of the inward man, even day by day." Only as we nourish the inner [spiritual] man, can we be kept from discouragement as we see the decay of the outer [physical] man.
So as much as I'll try to take care of my body and win a few basketball games here and there, my over-arching goal will be to keep my soul healthy and fed on the things of God.
And if you're wondering who won the scrimmage, well, thankfully, we didn't keep score!