OCTOBER R A D IO MESSAGE
LEAVES
Dr. Walter L. Wilson
by
T here are so many wonderful and interesting things found in the Word of God, such as the statement in Isaiah 64:6, “We all do fade as a leaf.” We know from nature that leaves don’t fade unless the tree is dying, or going through a change of seasons. Each tree does it in a dif ferent way. Some fading leaves are more beautiful than others. There are those which look drab and unin teresting. How much leaves are like people! As we get older, the bloom of youth disappears. Our step loses its spring and our vigor abates. The devil doesn’t have much pleasure to offer older people. While we buy cosmetics to keep us from fading, yet there are tell tale marks which leave no mistake. When I was a boy I could run up six or eight flights of stairs without any problem. Now every new height, however, has its problems. It seems that “my get up and go has got up and went.” Why is it that some people, when they get old, seem to be so cranky? They are wretched with themselves and others. Nothing pleases them. It is so sad to see a person like this. I t doesn’t have to happen that way, however. I t has been well said that we will be what we are now becom ing. In other words, a person who is nothing but cynical in his old age didn’t get that way just because of advancing years. The seeds of bitter ness were sown in his heart when he was much younger.
How is your leaf fading? Is it beautiful, or is it just something peo ple disdain, like the worthless leaves to be raked up and burned? I love to be around elderly people who en joy talking about their Saviour and Lord. They never tire of praying or reading the Word. I t is a rich bless ing to them and they in turn are rich blessings to others. They may have ailments and afflictions, and yet they occupy their time praising God for the many bountiful mercies He heaps upon them. Although you may not be able to sing with a professional voice, the Lord delights for you to make a joy ful noise unto Him. That makes the fading days of your life much more beautiful. Sometimes I used to come home from work weary and burdened with the problems of the day. I’d hear my sweetheart in the kitchen singing, “He Is So Precious To Me,” or “The Morning Cometh with No Clouds in the Sky.” She would sing all of these lovely old hymns. It soon brought me out of the doldrums. The Lord wants us to fade loving ly and beautifully. At the end of our journey what will folks say about us? You know, there’s such a thing as living a life of misery to others. You make them feel sorry and sad that you are around. May God help us to fade beautifully, sweetly, and graciously, earnestly devoted to our lovely Lord so that we will still be a blessing to those around us. God grant that it may be so with each of our lives. 3
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