Old Men Read This
Stay salty. Stay Faithful.
I made it the whole trip. 3,100+ miles. Seventeen different stops. Six people packed into a van. And I did not get into an argument with my wife. I did not lose my temper with my kids. Not one curse word.
It was an incredible time.
Yesterday, I was on a call, and the guy on the other end asked how the trip went. "Fantastic," I replied, quietly patting myself on the back. "No fights. No rage monster. I did great."
Twenty minutes later, my wife and I were standing in our bathroom having a knock-down, drag-out fight. Yelling. Crying. Too much self and emotion.
I had spoken too soon.
Here’s the truth brothers: Satan will wait 3,100 miles to bring you down. Your flesh will remain quiet for weeks and then remind you that it is not yet dead.
It is interesting… the Bible is filled with men who stumbled after great victories. Noah survived the flood and then got drunk.
Abraham followed God into the unknown and then tried to manufacture God’s promise.
Moses faithfully led Israel for forty years, and then lost his self-control near the finish line.
David defeated Goliath, survived Saul, and established a kingdom, and then fell into adultery and murder.
Solomon began with wisdom, built the temple, and led Israel into prosperity, but finished with his heart divided.
Hezekiah trusted God through invasion and illness, and then proudly displayed all his treasures to Babylon.
Some of the most dangerous moments in your life will come immediately after your greatest victories. If we are not careful, victory can make us careless.
We start believing we have conquered something that must still be crucified daily. We confuse temporary progress with permanent transformation.
We stop watching.
We stop praying.
We stop depending on grace.
And that is when we become vulnerable. I was reminded this week that there is no finish line for faithfulness on this side of eternity.
We will never be too mature to fall. Never too old to become foolish. Never too successful to need accountability. Never too spiritual to need grace.
Can we celebrate progress? Absolutely. But we have to stay humble.
Can we give thanks for victory? Absolutely. But we must keep watch.
I made it 3,100 miles. Then I was reminded that I still need Jesus every mile after.
Someone you know needs the wild rumpus? Pull the trigger. Sharing is caring
This is especially pressing for some of you older saints. The Bible is filled with faithful men who stumbled in the second half of their lives.
Men who had walked with God for decades. Men who had survived battles, endured hardship, and built strong reputations. Men who had preached sermons, raised families, led ministries, and served faithfully. And then, somewhere near the finish line, they stopped watching.
Brothers, Satan has no problem waiting thirty or forty years to destroy your witness. He will wait until your influence is greatest, your reputation is strongest, and the consequences of your failure will reach the most people.
He would love to ruin in one careless season what took you a lifetime to build. Your marriage. Your ministry. Your relationship with your children. Your credibility with the next generation. Your witness to the world.
Do not assume that because you have been faithful for a long time, you are now beyond falling. Age does not make you immune to temptation.
Experience does not eliminate your flesh.
Success does not remove your need for accountability.
Yesterday’s obedience does not guarantee today’s faithfulness.
Some men spend decades building a legacy and only minutes destroying it. So stay humble. Stay accountable. Stay near to Jesus. Keep short accounts with sin. Invite trusted brothers to ask hard questions. Do not coast into the final years of your life.
Older saints, we NEED you to finish well. We need your wisdom without pride. Your courage without carelessness. Your strength without secrecy. Your example without a scandal attached to it.
Do not merely start faithfully. Do not merely run faithfully. By the grace of God, finish faithfully.
Men like me are watching.
For the King,
— Harp
You have hit the nail on the head with this one. My brother! Can't rest on our laurels...
AMEN! You are so right! We've sadly seen this with Christian leaders even in our own times, who after years of faithful ministry and leadership stumble and fall. Jeremiah, in chapter 17, reminds us in verse 9:
7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose trust is the LORD.
8 He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit.”
9 The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick;
who can understand it?
10 “I the LORD search the heart
and test the mind,
to give every man according to his ways,
according to the fruit of his deeds.”
Satan is finite, but he is an immortal creature, and has honed his traps and deceptions over millennia. Our flesh is always eager to consider Satan's lies, and the world amplifies them to the point of sensory overload. ONLY through daily prayer with our Lord and studying His Word, and regular fellowship with and accountability to other Christian men, can we "stay the course; win the race; earn the crown."