"Growing Young"

"And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. Write: for these words are true and faithful." Revelation 21:5. Now, I realize that the title of this little article may not make much sense at first to most people and it may even appear to some that I have lost it, but I hope that by the time it is finished, it will be very clear that the title is correct. And it is my prayer for this little article, as it is with every article the Lord places upon my heart, that He will use it for His glory and as a very real and lasting blessing to those who will read it.

I heard a sermon a while back concerning things changing and the example given for the changes that take place was that of aging or growing old. In the sermon, it was discussed how that people begin to notice craters in their skin which are called wrinkles. And how some folk experience changes of hair color known as turning gray. And how others experience change in hair volume known as turning loose or balding. There were other changes spoken of, all of which dealt with the natural phenomenon called aging. Well actually, the Lord began laying this little article upon my heart the day before I heard this sermon. My wife had just finished preparing a Birthday cake for one of our children and as it turned out, she didn't have enough candles to put on the cake. When my wife made mention of not having enough candles, I said, "He's getting younger." It was when I had made that comment that the Lord allowed me to see that I indeed am getting younger. Don't get me wrong, I do have my share of those craters known as wrinkles and though my barber does her best to keep those colored hairs cut, I get more gray hairs daily it seems. And I am reminded daily of the aches and pains from a knee injury I received about a year and a half ago. And most recently, I began experiencing new pains and some numbness associated with a knot that suddenly appeared in my right arm. Well, at first thought, one would naturally consider these changes to be signs of aging or getting older, but actually, they are all very definite signs of my getting younger.

On August the 14th in 1952, my Mother gave birth to her fifth son and seventh child. She named that child Mickey and gave me the same last name as my father which is Quinn. From the time of my conception I began processes. One of these processes was that of growing which in itself includes the process of growing older. Another of these processes was that of life or living. But I also started the process of dying. Now, each of these processes could have lasted anywhere from a single second to many years with many variables being determining factors, but with God, Who allowed the conception to take place, in complete control. Since you are reading this little article, it is a sure thing that you are somewhere within these same processes. It is true that the time of your conception and birth are probably different from those of myself, which would make you a different age than me. It is also true that the variables I mentioned are probably very different in your life than the ones in mine. But, regardless of whether you are much older or younger than me and regardless of whether the variables in your life put you at a greater or lesser risk than those of my life, the very same God Who is in charge of when my processes reach their conclusion is also in charge of when your processeses reach their conclusion. What I'm saying here is that none of us knows when we will die and only God can make that decision. Now, I'm sure that there are those who would disagree with me on this point and say that they could decide to end their life at any time they choose. Well, for those, you have every right to be wrong. Sure, I have known of people who commited suicide and the most famous was the rascal who betrayed my Lord for thirty pieces of silver (Judas Iscariot). But, there have also been those (many of them) who have tried with all their ability to end their lives, who have failed. The truth is and remains, that God and God alone will say when you or I or anyone else will reach an end to this thing we call life. Now I'm sure that many, if not most would be saying that this all sounds a lot like growing older. It does don't it?

If you will notice, earlier in the article, when referring to the sermon I had heard, I mentioned the natural phenomenon of aging. I also mentioned that some would naturally consider the changes mentioned to be signs of aging or getting older. Well praise the Lord, that's where He so graciously showed me that I am growing younger. It's so amazing that everything the Lord does for me is graciously. It's by His amazing grace that I am sitting here typing this little article with one hand. You see, Satan doesn't want me to write this little article and he most likely doesn't want you reading it. But though I had to lay down awhile in the middle of it, because of some dizziness, there is no way he will stop me from writing it as it is a very important part of my growing younger. As I have already mentioned, I was born on August the 14th of 1952. Well, that was indeed a miracle of God, but it was also a natural phenomenon, such as aging or growing older. Also, the reason people would naturally consider those changes mentioned to be signs of aging or growing older is because those changes are also natural. On Friday the 13th of November in 1992 something Supernatural happened to me. I was born again. That's the night that God saved me and guess what, He did it most graciously. Born again. Sounds mysterious, doesn't it. Well, don't ask me to explain it, because I cannot even adequately explain the first one and it was natural. Supernatural, like the grace of God can only be experienced and can never be explained. What the Lord has allowed me to see though is that from that very second on, I ceased growing old and began growing young. Now is that Supernatural or what? When God saved me and I was born not of flesh and blood, but of the Spirit of God, I became a new creature. I even got a new name. This new name is the name of Christ Who made it all possible. I am now called Christian. With this new birth and this new creation and new name, I also received a new life. In this new life, I must and do grow as with the previous, but natural one. With the other (natural) birth, I was born a sinner. I was not a sinner because I sinned, though I did sin. I sinned because I was a sinner. That's what sinners do, they sin. I was a sinner because I was born of flesh and blood, which is corruptible seed. Now, being a sinner and of corruptible flesh and blood, I not only grew bigger and older and closer to death every day of my life, but I also grew farther and farther away from God every day of my life. Not so with this new life that He has so graciously given me. I do grow, but now every day of my life I grow closer to God Who is my Father. I grow closer to Him in more ways than one, which is the reason I grow younger every day. First of all, I desire to and by His abundant grace and mercy grow closer to Him in my fellowship with and service to Him. In my fellowship with Him is the only time I don't have to contend with the attacks of Satan. That's why my service to Him always has to begin and end with more fellowship with Him. With every article the Lord gives me, Satan tries his very best to hinder me and every time I witness to someone he's always there to try and defeat me and every time the Lord uses me to lead some precious soul to Jesus he really gets upset with me. But the other way I grow closer to my Lord every day is that every day brings me closer and closer to the time when He calls me home to be with Him through all eternity. Now, I have said many times and I say again that a man's walk with the Lord can be compared to the steeple on a church in that as the steeple is very large at the bottom and gets smaller and smaller the higher up it goes, so too as a man gets closer and closer to God, the smaller he sees himself. As I grow closer to the Lord every day, I will eventually disappear from the sight of those who are left here to contend with wrinkles and gray hairs and bad knees and knots on the arm and dizzy spells and Satan. So you see, every day of this new life that God has so graciously given me, I grow younger and younger. Should you see me before I go, don't be deceived by the wrinkles and gray hairs and stuff, because all you are seeing is the old Mickey. The other one which you cannot see is indeed a vibrant young whipper snapper growing younger by the minute. Now, should you see me or if you know me, you would probably think that I don't deserve such a blessing from God. You're right. Remember that wonderful grace that I mentioned. That alone is why I grow younger every day. The question now is, how about you? Can you say without one doubt that if you were to die while you are reading the remainder of this little article, and you very well could, that you would to to heaven and spend eternity in the very presence of God? Please be honest with yourself and with God as you consider and answer this which is the most important question that will ever be asked you. I did not ask you if you are a good person and I did not ask you if you are a church member and I did not ask you if you had been baptized. Are you absolutely certain that if you were to die right now that you would to to heaven? If you are not sure, you can be sure right this very moment. It has been established that you are a sinner, just like I am. God's Word says, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23. But friend, none of those sins will be what sends you or anyone else crashing into hell. The only sin that will send you to hell is that of rejecting Jesus Christ and the sacrifice that He has already made for your sins on the cross. If you realize that you are lost and without God, that is the Holy Spirit of God calling you to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. The devil will never tell you that. All you lack is believing and calling upon God to save you. Don't worry about not having enough faith for that is another lie of the devil. God is the one who gives you the faith to be saved through His grace. Ephesians 2:8 says, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God." Friend, the and that spoken of here is the faith whereby you are saved. All you have to do is realize that you are a lost sinner and believe that Jesus Christ died and rose again for your sins. Then just call upon the name of the Lord to save you and He will and He will even give you the faith to become a child of God. If you have not done so, please do it now. before it is eternally to late.

If you have trusted Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour and received Him into your heart and life as Lord, you too will grow younger every day. Sure, you may notice what the world sees as signs of aging, but that's merely the old you who you will leave behind. It's the new you that matters and that's the one who will be going to heaven with you. God bless you. And Satan, if I could stick my tongue out at you on this paper, I would surely do so now.