Don’t let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator. Honor him in your youth before you grow old and say, “Life is not pleasant anymore.” (Ecclesiastes 12:1 NLT)

I am seventy-four years old, and a few years back, I had an epiphany of sorts.  I realized that gravity wins.

In recent decades, I have tried to live a healthy lifestyle.  I used to jog, and now I walk.  I ride my bike in the warmer seasons of the year.  I have tried to eat a healthy diet, with a few exceptions.

I have never met a doughnut I didn’t like. Diet and exercise can slow the process, but as the preacher in Ecclesiastes tells us; eventually, we all go the way of all flesh.

In verses 2-7, the writer of the book describes to us the decline that takes place in our advanced years. You have probably heard about the octogenarian who once said, “there are three things that happen to you when you get old.  You lose your eyesight and hearing; I can’t remember what the third one is.”  No one wants to talk about their mortality, but what the Bible speaks about, we should be able to converse about also.

The reason we may not like to think about our mortality is that we do not really believe what the Bible says about our immortality.  Jesus said that if we believe in him, we will never die (John 11:16).  This verse ends with a question, “Do you believe this?”  If we trust Christ, why do we cling to this life more than we should?

Gravity does win, yet, our eternal spirit never ages.  If we refuse to believe in the words of Jesus, we will neither live well nor die well.

I worked for seventeen years as a missionary with Youth With A Mission.  My missionary work has taken me to Mexico, Canada, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Spain, and Ukraine.  I hold a Masters of Education in curriculum and instruction from Virginia Commonwealth University.  [email protected]