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Finishing Our Course with Joy: Guidance from God for Engaging with Our Aging
Thinning hair, failing eyesight, and arthritic hands reveal an inescapable we’re only getting older.
But that doesn’t mean we should simply sit back and take it easy. In Finishing Our Course with Joy, renowned theologian and author J. I. Packer challenges us to embrace old age as an opportunity for continued learning, careful planning, and heartfelt discipleship. Packer’s pastoral words and personal stories encourage us to press on toward the upward call of God with endurance and grace—that we might continue to glorify God in our aging and finish our lives with joy.
But that doesn’t mean we should simply sit back and take it easy. In Finishing Our Course with Joy, renowned theologian and author J. I. Packer challenges us to embrace old age as an opportunity for continued learning, careful planning, and heartfelt discipleship. Packer’s pastoral words and personal stories encourage us to press on toward the upward call of God with endurance and grace—that we might continue to glorify God in our aging and finish our lives with joy.
54 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2014
130 people are currently reading
555 people want to read
About the author
J.I. Packer
446 books918 followersWhat do J. I. Packer, Billy Graham and Richard John Neuhaus have in common? Each was recently named by TIME magazine as among the 25 most influential evangelicals in America.
Dr. Packer, the Board of Governors’ Professor of Theology at Regent College, was hailed by TIME as “a doctrinal Solomon” among Protestants. “Mediating debates on everything from a particular Bible translation to the acceptability of free-flowing Pentecostal spirituality, Packer helps unify a community [evangelicalism] that could easily fall victim to its internal tensions.”
Knowing God, Dr. Packer’s seminal 1973 work, was lauded as a book which articulated shared beliefs for members of diverse denominations; the TIME profile quotes Michael Cromartie of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington as saying, “conservative Methodists and Presbyterians and Baptists could all look to [Knowing God] and say, ‘This sums it all up for us.’”
In a similar tribute to Dr. Packer almost ten years ago, American theologian Mark Noll wrote in Christianity Today that, “Packer’s ability to address immensely important subjects in crisp, succinct sentences is one of the reasons why, both as an author and speaker, he has played such an important role among American evangelicals for four decades.”
For over 25 years Regent College students have been privileged to study under Dr. Packer’s clear and lucid teaching, and our faculty, staff and students celebrate the international recognition he rightly receives as a leading Christian thinker and teacher.
(https://www.regent-college.edu/facult...)
Dr. Packer, the Board of Governors’ Professor of Theology at Regent College, was hailed by TIME as “a doctrinal Solomon” among Protestants. “Mediating debates on everything from a particular Bible translation to the acceptability of free-flowing Pentecostal spirituality, Packer helps unify a community [evangelicalism] that could easily fall victim to its internal tensions.”
Knowing God, Dr. Packer’s seminal 1973 work, was lauded as a book which articulated shared beliefs for members of diverse denominations; the TIME profile quotes Michael Cromartie of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington as saying, “conservative Methodists and Presbyterians and Baptists could all look to [Knowing God] and say, ‘This sums it all up for us.’”
In a similar tribute to Dr. Packer almost ten years ago, American theologian Mark Noll wrote in Christianity Today that, “Packer’s ability to address immensely important subjects in crisp, succinct sentences is one of the reasons why, both as an author and speaker, he has played such an important role among American evangelicals for four decades.”
For over 25 years Regent College students have been privileged to study under Dr. Packer’s clear and lucid teaching, and our faculty, staff and students celebrate the international recognition he rightly receives as a leading Christian thinker and teacher.
(https://www.regent-college.edu/facult...)
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February 22, 2025
It’s good to break even, out of the turbulent conflicts of our modern minds. And it’s great to level the playing field of our mistakes!
To do that thoroughly and decisively no daydreaming escapes can be permitted. No, those only exacerbate our conflicts more jarringly! It’s best to wake up and resolve our conflicts with Grace.
And waking up is hard work. Reverend Packer first did that for my hippie generation with his phenomenal seventies bestseller, Knowing God.
And Knowing God is a rousingly awake and deeply moral knowledge...
Falling asleep only rouses our demons: hence our recurrent nightmares. If, on the other hand, we keep pinching ourselves to be more wide awake, our dreams will be more peaceful and full of rest.
But if you luxuriate in demonic dreams they, in turn, will extract a pound of your flesh. That’s where the waking dead we see in our towns originate. And they become grey-skinned and soulless.
For the sleep of reason is “the lane that leads to the land of the dead.”
And that Land of the Dead is Postmodernism, which rightly unveils our phony world as an outwardly attractive and colourful decorated box containing only grim emptiness.
This Void - loneliness, dread and despair - is the hurdle all aging folks must leap across on their final road to the Beyond.
And it CAN be seen as a minor threat, but only if we believe in a God who, as in the Book of Job, CREATES GOOD out of Nothingness. And stands Astride the Void!
Affective thought leads not to such love, but to recriminative anxiety. Want to sleep on a bed of nails?
Yet more disturbing is the growing faction of those elderly folks who are driven inwards from the storm - into dementia.
Reverend Packer, who at 93 is still active in his rôle of a mentor at Regent College in Vancouver, while slowing down, still retains his joy in life. He has turned his elderly years to productive use.
You know, we ourselves sometimes listen via radio to dial-in talk shows here in central Ontario...
We hear so many despondently cynical seniors air their endless gripes - O agenbite of inwit! - at the dire effects of COVID-19.
Partly understandable, cause at the beginning of the outbreak in Québec, old folks were not permitted to leave their homes if they were past seventy...
But what if they heard Reverend Packer tell them that the sad, biting discomfiture that’s tormenting them - comes from their intellectual and moral apathy and their refusal to become spiritually Engaged with life and death?
And after all, God has cancelled all your debts to Him - why not try, for Heaven’s sake, in return - to Love life and those around you?
Times are hard, but the evil that thrives on this world ALWAYS makes life hard.
Breaking even with the debts of our past lives can Constantly rejuvenate our souls.
We CAN start each day afresh -
For such is the inner working of Grace in us.
And we’d ALL love to believe there’s a Brand New Tomorrow.
To do that thoroughly and decisively no daydreaming escapes can be permitted. No, those only exacerbate our conflicts more jarringly! It’s best to wake up and resolve our conflicts with Grace.
And waking up is hard work. Reverend Packer first did that for my hippie generation with his phenomenal seventies bestseller, Knowing God.
And Knowing God is a rousingly awake and deeply moral knowledge...
Falling asleep only rouses our demons: hence our recurrent nightmares. If, on the other hand, we keep pinching ourselves to be more wide awake, our dreams will be more peaceful and full of rest.
But if you luxuriate in demonic dreams they, in turn, will extract a pound of your flesh. That’s where the waking dead we see in our towns originate. And they become grey-skinned and soulless.
For the sleep of reason is “the lane that leads to the land of the dead.”
And that Land of the Dead is Postmodernism, which rightly unveils our phony world as an outwardly attractive and colourful decorated box containing only grim emptiness.
This Void - loneliness, dread and despair - is the hurdle all aging folks must leap across on their final road to the Beyond.
And it CAN be seen as a minor threat, but only if we believe in a God who, as in the Book of Job, CREATES GOOD out of Nothingness. And stands Astride the Void!
Affective thought leads not to such love, but to recriminative anxiety. Want to sleep on a bed of nails?
Yet more disturbing is the growing faction of those elderly folks who are driven inwards from the storm - into dementia.
Reverend Packer, who at 93 is still active in his rôle of a mentor at Regent College in Vancouver, while slowing down, still retains his joy in life. He has turned his elderly years to productive use.
You know, we ourselves sometimes listen via radio to dial-in talk shows here in central Ontario...
We hear so many despondently cynical seniors air their endless gripes - O agenbite of inwit! - at the dire effects of COVID-19.
Partly understandable, cause at the beginning of the outbreak in Québec, old folks were not permitted to leave their homes if they were past seventy...
But what if they heard Reverend Packer tell them that the sad, biting discomfiture that’s tormenting them - comes from their intellectual and moral apathy and their refusal to become spiritually Engaged with life and death?
And after all, God has cancelled all your debts to Him - why not try, for Heaven’s sake, in return - to Love life and those around you?
Times are hard, but the evil that thrives on this world ALWAYS makes life hard.
Breaking even with the debts of our past lives can Constantly rejuvenate our souls.
We CAN start each day afresh -
For such is the inner working of Grace in us.
And we’d ALL love to believe there’s a Brand New Tomorrow.
May 13, 2020
Wonderful quick read especially for someone my age. A lot of truth packed into a small package. J. I. Packer reminded me that Christians aren't called to retire. We are in the battle our entire lives and even though physically we can't do what we had been able to when we were younger, we can offer the perspective of maturity to those around us. Society may tell us to take it easy and give up, but there is no such language in the Bible. I very much enjoyed his push to continue behaving as a strong disciple even into my senior years.
January 27, 2019
I have found, as have so many others, that anything authored by J. I. Packer is well worth reading, and this little volume is no exception. A rich and wise reminder not to fritter away our years as we age, "Finishing Our Course" brings much needed encouragement for followers of Christ to view "retirement" much differently than the way it is often defined.
In God's plan, writes Packer, our latter years aren't simply to be spent in leisure, idleness or selfish pursuits. Rather, we are to follow God's calling all the more fervently, from the strong foundation of life experience, wisdom, grace, and love that He has poured into us, enthusiastically living out His calling in our lives until our final day.
This book would be a great gift for anyone you know who is starting to receive mail from the AARP; the truths Packer shares so capably, when applied, will cause anyone's life to be much more spiritually fruitful -- and thus, especially fulfilling and meaningful!
In God's plan, writes Packer, our latter years aren't simply to be spent in leisure, idleness or selfish pursuits. Rather, we are to follow God's calling all the more fervently, from the strong foundation of life experience, wisdom, grace, and love that He has poured into us, enthusiastically living out His calling in our lives until our final day.
This book would be a great gift for anyone you know who is starting to receive mail from the AARP; the truths Packer shares so capably, when applied, will cause anyone's life to be much more spiritually fruitful -- and thus, especially fulfilling and meaningful!
March 29, 2014
This is a short, easily-read book that will, by its very nature, appeal most to those who are entering older age. But it is a worthwhile read for those for are not quite at that age and those who minister to people of all ages. Packer encourages a lifelong service of Jesus, including into old, and even oldest, age. There is much here to both challenge and encourage; lots to chew over.
It isn't complete, of course - it's too short for that (and I like its brevity). Packer identifies his ideal reader as a consistent and consistently-growing Christian - serious-minded and eager to know and serve the Lord. Which is fine. But what the book lacks is any focus on the issues of depression in older age and the struggle with bitter regrets over the failures of earlier years, perhaps related to the bringing up of family. I'm sure he would have helpful words to say on the subject, but maybe that's for another book.
All in all, a solid, enjoyable, stimulating book.
It isn't complete, of course - it's too short for that (and I like its brevity). Packer identifies his ideal reader as a consistent and consistently-growing Christian - serious-minded and eager to know and serve the Lord. Which is fine. But what the book lacks is any focus on the issues of depression in older age and the struggle with bitter regrets over the failures of earlier years, perhaps related to the bringing up of family. I'm sure he would have helpful words to say on the subject, but maybe that's for another book.
All in all, a solid, enjoyable, stimulating book.
February 1, 2017
This book is very practical and Biblical. It is a short book, but it is a good reminder that as long as the elderly are physically able, they should help younger people in their Christian growth.
Thereis no such thing as a retired Christian. It gives good practical steps that older Christians can do as long as their bodies allow it.
Thereis no such thing as a retired Christian. It gives good practical steps that older Christians can do as long as their bodies allow it.
August 10, 2023
Helpful for pastoring older church members and better understanding their common temptations and strengths.
February 19, 2014
For those getting older and who desire to finish well, this is a concise and encouraging read. I plan on incorporating some of these lessons as I serve residents two nursing homes here in Louisville.
September 7, 2017
Summary: A meditation on aging that combines coming to terms with the physical changes in our bodies while pressing on to complete our course of actively serving the Lord.
J. I. Packer was a middle-aged scholar when his book Knowing God found its way to me as a college student. I had a chance to hear him speak on revival in Ann Arbor in his mid-fifties. Now I have passed that milestone, while Packer is still an active scholar and writer at age 91. I personally can’t think of a person I’d rather listen to teach about aging and finishing well in Christ.
This pithy little book of meditations on aging is worth its weight in gold. It opens with a remarkable tribute, from a Commonwealth citizen to Queen Elizabeth II (who is a few months older than Packer, also 91 at this writing):
” The Queen is a very remarkable person. Tirelessly, it seems, she goes on doing what she has been doing for six decades and more: waving in shy friendliness to the crowds past whom she is transported, and greeting with a smile one and another; children particularly, whom she meets in her walkabouts. It is more than sixty years since she publicly committed herself before God to serve Commonwealth citizens all her life. She has done it devotedly up to now, and will undoubtedly continue doing it as long as she physically can. So we may expect to see more of the porkpie hats and hear more of the clear, easy voice as her reign continues. She is a Christian lady resolved to live out her vow till she drops. She merits unbounded admiration from us all” (p. 12).
This quote should give you a sense of the theme of this book. In his first chapter on “We Grow Old” he discusses facing honestly our physical decline, but also talks about ripeness as a positive image of old age, and commends three ideas:
First, live for God one day at a time.
Second, live in the present moment.
Third, live ready to go when Christ comes for you.
Packer thinks that the wrong way to pursue this is to kick back and take our ease and follow the typical retiree life of leisure activities.
In “Soul and Body” Packer talks about what it means for us to be embodied persons and explores the opposite temptation of aging leaders who refuse to relinquish power, or do so reluctantly and take it out on their families. Pride and insecurity may prevent us to recognizing when our advancing age suggests that it is time to hand off to rising leaders.
“Keeping Going” begins to fill in Packer’s vision of avoiding the perils of leisured retirement, and the stubborn and fearful refusal to let go of formal leadership roles. Packer proposes a life where we continue to be learners rooted in a mentally engaged study of scripture that seeks growth as thoughtful, discerning, and vibrant disciples. And while we may step aside from formal leadership roles, we should be open to the ways we might exercise influence leadership through our relationships, particularly intergenerationally. He commends Paul’s statement that he has finished his race (2 Timothy 4:6-8), and sees this as a call to clear goals, purposeful planning, resolute concentration, and supreme effort so that we might finish well our own races.
“We Look Forward” builds on this and the future hope toward which we run, beyond the finish line. He reflects on the marvelous “upgrade” that our resurrection bodies represent, the hope of being with the Lord, and the reckoning we will face that determines, not our salvation, but the opportunities we will enjoy in those new bodies, connected to how we’ve lived in these. And so he concludes with the opportunities we have now, even in advancing years. We may have five, ten, or twenty years or more where we will be able to serve in some ways to advance the Lord’s kingdom. Will we do this with a maturity, humility, and zeal that encourages others to press on in their own races, their own life course?
How grateful I am for this word from one three decades ahead of me who is still running his race with joy. I need his warnings against the temptation to take our ease, and finish before we’ve finished in terms of our lives of discipleship and service. He challenges me in my own work of leadership to be diligent in preparing to pass the baton to others while preparing for new roles of service that steward the gifts and lessons of life to bless others in the church. He challenges me to growing and learning in Christ. The followers of Christ who I’ve seen end their lives best have lived like this. By God’s grace, I want to be one of them.
J. I. Packer was a middle-aged scholar when his book Knowing God found its way to me as a college student. I had a chance to hear him speak on revival in Ann Arbor in his mid-fifties. Now I have passed that milestone, while Packer is still an active scholar and writer at age 91. I personally can’t think of a person I’d rather listen to teach about aging and finishing well in Christ.
This pithy little book of meditations on aging is worth its weight in gold. It opens with a remarkable tribute, from a Commonwealth citizen to Queen Elizabeth II (who is a few months older than Packer, also 91 at this writing):
” The Queen is a very remarkable person. Tirelessly, it seems, she goes on doing what she has been doing for six decades and more: waving in shy friendliness to the crowds past whom she is transported, and greeting with a smile one and another; children particularly, whom she meets in her walkabouts. It is more than sixty years since she publicly committed herself before God to serve Commonwealth citizens all her life. She has done it devotedly up to now, and will undoubtedly continue doing it as long as she physically can. So we may expect to see more of the porkpie hats and hear more of the clear, easy voice as her reign continues. She is a Christian lady resolved to live out her vow till she drops. She merits unbounded admiration from us all” (p. 12).
This quote should give you a sense of the theme of this book. In his first chapter on “We Grow Old” he discusses facing honestly our physical decline, but also talks about ripeness as a positive image of old age, and commends three ideas:
First, live for God one day at a time.
Second, live in the present moment.
Third, live ready to go when Christ comes for you.
Packer thinks that the wrong way to pursue this is to kick back and take our ease and follow the typical retiree life of leisure activities.
In “Soul and Body” Packer talks about what it means for us to be embodied persons and explores the opposite temptation of aging leaders who refuse to relinquish power, or do so reluctantly and take it out on their families. Pride and insecurity may prevent us to recognizing when our advancing age suggests that it is time to hand off to rising leaders.
“Keeping Going” begins to fill in Packer’s vision of avoiding the perils of leisured retirement, and the stubborn and fearful refusal to let go of formal leadership roles. Packer proposes a life where we continue to be learners rooted in a mentally engaged study of scripture that seeks growth as thoughtful, discerning, and vibrant disciples. And while we may step aside from formal leadership roles, we should be open to the ways we might exercise influence leadership through our relationships, particularly intergenerationally. He commends Paul’s statement that he has finished his race (2 Timothy 4:6-8), and sees this as a call to clear goals, purposeful planning, resolute concentration, and supreme effort so that we might finish well our own races.
“We Look Forward” builds on this and the future hope toward which we run, beyond the finish line. He reflects on the marvelous “upgrade” that our resurrection bodies represent, the hope of being with the Lord, and the reckoning we will face that determines, not our salvation, but the opportunities we will enjoy in those new bodies, connected to how we’ve lived in these. And so he concludes with the opportunities we have now, even in advancing years. We may have five, ten, or twenty years or more where we will be able to serve in some ways to advance the Lord’s kingdom. Will we do this with a maturity, humility, and zeal that encourages others to press on in their own races, their own life course?
How grateful I am for this word from one three decades ahead of me who is still running his race with joy. I need his warnings against the temptation to take our ease, and finish before we’ve finished in terms of our lives of discipleship and service. He challenges me in my own work of leadership to be diligent in preparing to pass the baton to others while preparing for new roles of service that steward the gifts and lessons of life to bless others in the church. He challenges me to growing and learning in Christ. The followers of Christ who I’ve seen end their lives best have lived like this. By God’s grace, I want to be one of them.
August 13, 2020
Excellent book for people entering their last several decades of life. Packer writes in a clear and pastoral tone about the need to press on in Christian faithfulness and service as long as God gives us life and breath. He wrote it when he was 88. I read this to my parents who are in their early 80's. Highly recommended and a good book for younger people to read as well to know how best to encourage and help older believers as they age.
January 25, 2016
A short book, but one I will probably read again. There's so much wisdom here that runs counter to the prevailing views of contemporary culture.
December 16, 2017
At 99 pages, J. I. Packer’s Finishing Our Course with Joy: Guidance from God for Engaging with Our Aging is not a total treatise on aging. Its main thrust is that modern society tends to put older people on the shelf for a life of indulgence and idleness, but Christians should continue growing in our relationship with God as well as our ministry to others. Our ministry may look different from what it did in our youth, but God still has a purpose for us being here. He acknowledges that one fourth of the “oldest old” (over 85) will have some degree of dementia, but:
He says that for years, people have viewed older age as a state of decline, but we should view it as what he calls “ripeness” or maturity.
He discusses various ways to do that, living one day at a time as if it truly might be our last, with glorifying God as our “constant goal,” avoiding excessive daydreaming and nostalgia, ready to go whenever God calls us home.
He discusses some of the temptations of old age, such as “going with the flow” of everything declining, even spiritually, or not acknowledging any decline due to pride and becoming “tyrannical” with family and friends after having to leave one’s sphere of work (pp 45-46).
He discusses how the church’s view too often mimics the world’s views of retirement:
He urges balance in families as well, encouraging seniors not to be “dictatorial” or “invade family circles unasked,” remembering that “loyalty to one’s spouse should trump the claims of parents,” and encouraging families not to “ignore mature wisdom that is available…in [their] older relatives and friends” (p. 97).
He also discusses nurturing the hope of heaven, letting that be a guide and inspiration as well as a testimony, and remembering that we will give account at the judgment seat of Christ that Christians will face (different from the judgment that unbelievers face).
There is a lot packed in this short little book, and it’s encouraging to be reminded that God still has things for us to do for His glory as we age.
These pages address those who, by God’s grace, still have their faculties intact; who recognize that, as is often and truly said, aging is not for wimps; and who want to learn, in a straightforward way, how we may continue living for God’s glory (p. 14).
He says that for years, people have viewed older age as a state of decline, but we should view it as what he calls “ripeness” or maturity.
We know the difference between ripe and unripe fruit: the latter is sharp, acid, hard, without much flavor, and sets teeth on edge; the former is relatively soft and sweet, juicy, mellow, flavorful, leaving a pleasant taste in the mouth” (p. 18).
The Bible’s view is that aging, under God and by grace, will bring wisdom, that is, an enlarged capacity for discerning, choosing, and encouraging (p. 19).
[Racers] always try to keep something in reserve for a final sprint…so far as our bodily health allows, we should aim to be found running the last lap of our Christian life, as we would say, flat out. The final sprint, so I urge, should be a sprint indeed (pp. 21-22).
He discusses various ways to do that, living one day at a time as if it truly might be our last, with glorifying God as our “constant goal,” avoiding excessive daydreaming and nostalgia, ready to go whenever God calls us home.
The fact that one is no longer under any pressure to use one’s mind in learning things, solving problems, or strategizing for benefits either to oneself or to anybody else, will allow intelligence to lie permanently fallow, and this, so they tell us, may very well hasten the onset of dementia. The agenda as a whole turns out to be a recipe for isolating oneself and trivializing one’s life, with apathetic boredom becoming one’s default mood day after day (p. 30).
He discusses some of the temptations of old age, such as “going with the flow” of everything declining, even spiritually, or not acknowledging any decline due to pride and becoming “tyrannical” with family and friends after having to leave one’s sphere of work (pp 45-46).
He discusses how the church’s view too often mimics the world’s views of retirement:
Yet the common expectation, undiscussed but unchallenged, is that retirees will not continue the learning and leading that were big in their lives while they were at work. The most that the church will expect of them now is that they will continue to support from the sidelines, as it were, the modes of ministry in which others engage (pp. 62-63).
By moving us to think this way, however, Satan undermines, diminishes, and deflates our discipleship, reducing us from laborers in Christ’s kingdom to sympathetic spectators…(p. 63).
Still taking their cue from the world around, modern Western churches organize occupations, trips, parties, and so forth for their seniors and make pastoral provision for the shut-ins, but they no longer look to these folks as they do to the rest of the congregation to find, feed, and use their spiritual gifts. In this they behave as though spiritual gifts and ministry skills whither with age. But they don’t; what happens, rather, is that they atrophy with disuse (pp 63-64).
He encourages churches to balance acknowledging that there is bodily decline and ministering as needed to seniors with seeking to “cherish and continue to harness the ministering capacities” of older saints (p. 64). “And elderly Christian themselves should press on in the worship and service of God and in pastoral care for others, up to the limit of what they can still handle…” (p. 64).
“The challenge that faces us is not to let that fact [that our bodies are slowing down] slow us down spiritually, but to cultivate the maximum zeal for the closing phase of our earthly lives” (p. 72). He then spends several pages discussing zeal and quotes J. C. Ryle as saying that “Zeal in religion is a burning desire to do his will, and to advance his glory in every possible way” (pp. 74-75).
He urges balance in families as well, encouraging seniors not to be “dictatorial” or “invade family circles unasked,” remembering that “loyalty to one’s spouse should trump the claims of parents,” and encouraging families not to “ignore mature wisdom that is available…in [their] older relatives and friends” (p. 97).
He also discusses nurturing the hope of heaven, letting that be a guide and inspiration as well as a testimony, and remembering that we will give account at the judgment seat of Christ that Christians will face (different from the judgment that unbelievers face).
There is a lot packed in this short little book, and it’s encouraging to be reminded that God still has things for us to do for His glory as we age.
July 22, 2020
I was convinced to read this book after reading John Piper’s article - http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts.... This short book (I read it in about two hours) contains much wisdom from then 88 year-old Packer. Piper writes that “You could call it “Don’t Waste Your Sixties, Seventies, and Eighties.” It’s worth reading at any age.”
Below are my takeaways from the book:
How should we view the onset of old age? The common assumption is that it is mainly a process of loss, whereby strength is drained from both mind and body and the capacity to look forward and move forward in life’s various departments is reduced to nothing.
The Bible’s view is that aging, under God and by grace, will bring wisdom, that is, an enlarged capacity for discerning, choosing, and encouraging.
And my contention is going to be that, so far as our bodily health allows, we should aim to be found running the last lap of the race of our Christian life, as we would say, flat out. The final sprint, so I urge, should be a sprint indeed.
“Live each day as if thy last” is a wise word from a hymn written in 1674 by Thomas Ken. The older we get, the more needful its wisdom becomes, and if we have not already taken it to heart, we should do so now. When we unpack Ken’s admonition, three thoughts emerge. First, live for God one day at a time. Second, live in the present moment. Get into the way of practicing God’s presence—more specifically, Christ’s presence, according to his promise to be with us always (Matt. 28:20)—and cultivate the divine companionship. Third, live ready to go when Christ comes for you.
First and foremost, it involves direct, sober dealing with the Lord Jesus Christ himself, who is not only the one who will come as our courier to take us through our transition from this world to the next, but also the one who at some point in that world will be our Judge.
But now we must face the fact that all forms of this ideal of ripeness and increased focus in life in our old age stand in direct contrast to the advice for old age that our secular Western world currently gives. Retirees are admonished, both explicitly and implicitly, in terms that boil down to this: Relax. Slow down. Take it easy. Amuse yourself. Do only what you enjoy. I see this agenda, well meant as it is, as wrongheaded in the extreme.
The fact that one is no longer under any pressure to use one’s mind in learning things, solving problems, or strategizing for benefits either to oneself or to anybody else, will allow intelligence to lie permanently fallow, and this, so they tell us, may very well hasten the onset of dementia.
The agenda as a whole turns out to be a recipe for isolating oneself and trivializing one’s life, with apathetic boredom becoming one’s default mood day after day.
It will help us forward if the basic questions about bodies and souls in God’s revealed purpose for us are now laid out and responded to in order. Here they are. What Are Human Beings, and Why Did God Invent Us?
Mankind (originally, a single pair to whom God gave a procreative agenda—Gen. 1:28) was made to manage the ordered environment that God had created for his own pleasure. And with that we were to find pleasure of our own in giving God the glory of our human praise and thanks and service.
The human soul, as was indicated above, is the conscious personal self, the “I” that knows itself as “me,” the built-in principle of awareness, responsiveness, interaction, and relationships.
It seems clear that God gave us bodies to live in and through for two reasons: first, to fit us for managing the material world of which we are made his trustees and stewards; and, second, to enrich our lives here and now. But bodies wear out, and that is what we have to come to terms with as we age.
The slowing down is permanent, and with it comes one of the two temptations that are peculiar to old age—namely, to go with the flow of bodily decline and waning physical desires, and to allow our discipleship to Christ and our zeal for seeking, displaying, and advancing the kingdom of God also to slow down, or maybe I should say cool down, in a way that corresponds.
Meantime, however, think back with me for a moment to the oldsters’ temptation that I referred to at the start of this chapter, namely, not facing up to the fact that our physical decline is actually happening. Why this obstinate unrealism? The answer is not far to seek. Behind this attitude stands pride.
The readers whom I am addressing, as I indicated at the outset, are Christian seniors in or near my own age group. They became Christians in youth or early middle age and have been believers for several decades. They appreciate that learning to live with one’s old age is a spiritual discipline in itself, and they are reading this book in hope that it might help them there.
In the Bible, temptations are tests in which we are tried out, as the world would express it, to see what we are made of: what resources of wisdom, thoughtfulness, watchfulness, discernment, humility, consistency, trust, faithfulness, hope, and inward stability and strength are there in us to be drawn on when we are put under pressure.
And this leads on to the specific temptation by which Christ’s elderly disciples are nowadays assailed. That temptation is one form of an allurement we have all been exposed to since our Christian lives began, namely, to conform without thinking to what is already taking place.
We go with the flow, following the path that the secular community (and often too the institutional church to which we belong) is on already; and we identify with the standards and assumptions that we find dominating the culture around us.
In the present case, society conceives retirement as a watershed event of great significance, because retirement takes one out of what we call the world of work. Whereas, hitherto, we have labored hard in our trade or profession and been accountable in terms of a system we had no part in creating, now we become our own masters and can set our own agenda. Retirement is seen as an invitation to relax, slackening the pace and thrust of our lives, and as such is envisaged as a wholly good thing. Guaranteed lifelong solvency by our pension or unearned income, we off-load our responsibilities and leave to others the organizing, facilitating, monitoring, and adapting of all the things that it used to be our job to manage.
Eldercare in the churches, while rightly taking account of increasing bodily infirmities among the aging, should at the same time seek to cherish and continue to harness the ministering capacities that these Christians displayed at earlier stages of their lives. And elderly Christians themselves should press on in the worship and service of God, and in pastoral care for others, up to the limit of what they still can handle in terms of learning and leading, as they used to do earlier in their lives.
Lifelong learning, both of the truths by which Christians are to live and of the way to live by them—also of how these things are taught in Scripture and how they are misstated, misunderstood, and misapplied in the modern world—is every Christian’s calling.
Being alert to all aspects of the difference between true and false teaching, and of behavior that expresses the truth as distinct from obscuring it, is vital to the church’s health. It must be said with greatest clarity that alongside devotional Bible study that feeds faith and prompts prayer, something with which most Western Christians are already familiar and in which they are currently engaged, there is equal need of catechetical Bible study, without which well-intentioned minds and hearts will repeatedly go off track, and with which most Western Christians are at present unacquainted.
It must also be said with equal emphasis that everyone is leader to someone, whether pastoral persons to those they guide and teach, or parents to children, or spouses to each other in complementary ways, or friends to friends. I speak of leadership in a broad sense to include the full reality, informal as well as formal and unconscious as well as intentional, of influence: a relational force shaping some aspect of someone else’s life.
But to think of Christian retirees as exempt from the twin tasks of learning and leading, just because they do not inhabit the world of wage and salary earning any longer, and for aging Christians to think of themselves in this way, as if they have no more to do now than have fun, is worldliness in a strikingly intense and, be it said, strikingly foolish form.
But, as we have just seen, the image of running was central to Paul’s understanding of his own life, and I urge now that it ought to be the central focus in the minds and hearts of all aging Christians, who know and feel that their bodies are slowing down. The challenge that faces us is not to let that fact slow us down spiritually, but to cultivate the maximum zeal for the closing phase of our earthly lives.
So again we ask, what is zeal? Zeal means priority, passion, and effort in pursuing God’s cause. Maintaining zeal Godward as our bodies wear out is the special discipline to which we aging Christians are called.
First revealed truth: We know that a new body awaits each servant of Christ (2 Cor. 5:1).
Second revealed truth: We know that the experience of moving into this upgraded accommodation, our resurrection body, linked as it will be in some way with the body we have now—though as different from it as a seed is from the plant that grows out of it (see 1 Cor. 15:35–49)—will come to us as an enormous enrichment of the embodied life as we have known it up till now.
Third revealed truth: In heaven, clothed in our new bodies, we shall see and be at home with Jesus our Lord in a way that while we inhabit our present bodies is not possible.
Fourth revealed truth: We, with all other Christians and all other people too, will one day face the judgment seat of Christ.
What will be determined then (on resurrection day, presumably) is not where we shall spend eternity—that was decided when we first committed ourselves to Christ and received our forgiveness and reconciliation with God through the cross—but in what condition we shall spend that eternity of life with Christ.
Do they bring anything unique to the table of Christian fellowship, of kingdom vision, and of disciple-making strategy? Four things touched on earlier call for mention here.
Churches, society, and seniors themselves are still adjusting to the likelihood that most Christians who hit seventy still have before them at least a decade in which some form of active service for Christ remains practicable.
Spiritual maturity is a deep, well-tested relationship to our triune God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and a quality of relationship with both believers and unbelievers that embraces concern, sympathy, warmth, care, wisdom, insight, discernment, and understanding. It is a quality that is identifiable only in relationships; one that all pastoral ministry requires; and one that should, and in fact constantly does, mark out Christian seniors, equipping them for ongoing usefulness in care-centered, outreach-oriented congregations.
Humility is the product of ongoing repentance as one decides against, turns from, and by watching and praying seeks to steer clear of pride in all its forms. And as the battle against pride in the heart is lifelong, so humility should become an ever more deeply seated attitude of living at the disposal of God and others—an attitude that veteran Christians should increasingly display. Real spiritual growth is always growth downward, so to speak, into profounder humility, which in healthy souls will become more and more apparent as they age.
By intensity I mean not nervous tension, but strength of focus and concentration on pleasing God and furthering his cause and his glory—in a word, zeal, as we analyzed it a moment ago.
As seniors’ powers of body, memory, and creativity grow less, so their conscious focus on their hope of glory should grow sharper and their meditations on it grow more joyful and sustained. As this happens, passion to continue being of use to God and his people, in holiness, love, and what Scriptures conceives as neighborliness, should and will intensify, to the very end.
Ask God, and consult your congregation’s pastoral leaders, as to how you might do the best you can with what you have got and model in your own person the mobilizing of over-sixty-fives to continue giving all they can for as long as they can to contribute to the mutual ministry that goes on within God’s flock.
Below are my takeaways from the book:
How should we view the onset of old age? The common assumption is that it is mainly a process of loss, whereby strength is drained from both mind and body and the capacity to look forward and move forward in life’s various departments is reduced to nothing.
The Bible’s view is that aging, under God and by grace, will bring wisdom, that is, an enlarged capacity for discerning, choosing, and encouraging.
And my contention is going to be that, so far as our bodily health allows, we should aim to be found running the last lap of the race of our Christian life, as we would say, flat out. The final sprint, so I urge, should be a sprint indeed.
“Live each day as if thy last” is a wise word from a hymn written in 1674 by Thomas Ken. The older we get, the more needful its wisdom becomes, and if we have not already taken it to heart, we should do so now. When we unpack Ken’s admonition, three thoughts emerge. First, live for God one day at a time. Second, live in the present moment. Get into the way of practicing God’s presence—more specifically, Christ’s presence, according to his promise to be with us always (Matt. 28:20)—and cultivate the divine companionship. Third, live ready to go when Christ comes for you.
First and foremost, it involves direct, sober dealing with the Lord Jesus Christ himself, who is not only the one who will come as our courier to take us through our transition from this world to the next, but also the one who at some point in that world will be our Judge.
But now we must face the fact that all forms of this ideal of ripeness and increased focus in life in our old age stand in direct contrast to the advice for old age that our secular Western world currently gives. Retirees are admonished, both explicitly and implicitly, in terms that boil down to this: Relax. Slow down. Take it easy. Amuse yourself. Do only what you enjoy. I see this agenda, well meant as it is, as wrongheaded in the extreme.
The fact that one is no longer under any pressure to use one’s mind in learning things, solving problems, or strategizing for benefits either to oneself or to anybody else, will allow intelligence to lie permanently fallow, and this, so they tell us, may very well hasten the onset of dementia.
The agenda as a whole turns out to be a recipe for isolating oneself and trivializing one’s life, with apathetic boredom becoming one’s default mood day after day.
It will help us forward if the basic questions about bodies and souls in God’s revealed purpose for us are now laid out and responded to in order. Here they are. What Are Human Beings, and Why Did God Invent Us?
Mankind (originally, a single pair to whom God gave a procreative agenda—Gen. 1:28) was made to manage the ordered environment that God had created for his own pleasure. And with that we were to find pleasure of our own in giving God the glory of our human praise and thanks and service.
The human soul, as was indicated above, is the conscious personal self, the “I” that knows itself as “me,” the built-in principle of awareness, responsiveness, interaction, and relationships.
It seems clear that God gave us bodies to live in and through for two reasons: first, to fit us for managing the material world of which we are made his trustees and stewards; and, second, to enrich our lives here and now. But bodies wear out, and that is what we have to come to terms with as we age.
The slowing down is permanent, and with it comes one of the two temptations that are peculiar to old age—namely, to go with the flow of bodily decline and waning physical desires, and to allow our discipleship to Christ and our zeal for seeking, displaying, and advancing the kingdom of God also to slow down, or maybe I should say cool down, in a way that corresponds.
Meantime, however, think back with me for a moment to the oldsters’ temptation that I referred to at the start of this chapter, namely, not facing up to the fact that our physical decline is actually happening. Why this obstinate unrealism? The answer is not far to seek. Behind this attitude stands pride.
The readers whom I am addressing, as I indicated at the outset, are Christian seniors in or near my own age group. They became Christians in youth or early middle age and have been believers for several decades. They appreciate that learning to live with one’s old age is a spiritual discipline in itself, and they are reading this book in hope that it might help them there.
In the Bible, temptations are tests in which we are tried out, as the world would express it, to see what we are made of: what resources of wisdom, thoughtfulness, watchfulness, discernment, humility, consistency, trust, faithfulness, hope, and inward stability and strength are there in us to be drawn on when we are put under pressure.
And this leads on to the specific temptation by which Christ’s elderly disciples are nowadays assailed. That temptation is one form of an allurement we have all been exposed to since our Christian lives began, namely, to conform without thinking to what is already taking place.
We go with the flow, following the path that the secular community (and often too the institutional church to which we belong) is on already; and we identify with the standards and assumptions that we find dominating the culture around us.
In the present case, society conceives retirement as a watershed event of great significance, because retirement takes one out of what we call the world of work. Whereas, hitherto, we have labored hard in our trade or profession and been accountable in terms of a system we had no part in creating, now we become our own masters and can set our own agenda. Retirement is seen as an invitation to relax, slackening the pace and thrust of our lives, and as such is envisaged as a wholly good thing. Guaranteed lifelong solvency by our pension or unearned income, we off-load our responsibilities and leave to others the organizing, facilitating, monitoring, and adapting of all the things that it used to be our job to manage.
Eldercare in the churches, while rightly taking account of increasing bodily infirmities among the aging, should at the same time seek to cherish and continue to harness the ministering capacities that these Christians displayed at earlier stages of their lives. And elderly Christians themselves should press on in the worship and service of God, and in pastoral care for others, up to the limit of what they still can handle in terms of learning and leading, as they used to do earlier in their lives.
Lifelong learning, both of the truths by which Christians are to live and of the way to live by them—also of how these things are taught in Scripture and how they are misstated, misunderstood, and misapplied in the modern world—is every Christian’s calling.
Being alert to all aspects of the difference between true and false teaching, and of behavior that expresses the truth as distinct from obscuring it, is vital to the church’s health. It must be said with greatest clarity that alongside devotional Bible study that feeds faith and prompts prayer, something with which most Western Christians are already familiar and in which they are currently engaged, there is equal need of catechetical Bible study, without which well-intentioned minds and hearts will repeatedly go off track, and with which most Western Christians are at present unacquainted.
It must also be said with equal emphasis that everyone is leader to someone, whether pastoral persons to those they guide and teach, or parents to children, or spouses to each other in complementary ways, or friends to friends. I speak of leadership in a broad sense to include the full reality, informal as well as formal and unconscious as well as intentional, of influence: a relational force shaping some aspect of someone else’s life.
But to think of Christian retirees as exempt from the twin tasks of learning and leading, just because they do not inhabit the world of wage and salary earning any longer, and for aging Christians to think of themselves in this way, as if they have no more to do now than have fun, is worldliness in a strikingly intense and, be it said, strikingly foolish form.
But, as we have just seen, the image of running was central to Paul’s understanding of his own life, and I urge now that it ought to be the central focus in the minds and hearts of all aging Christians, who know and feel that their bodies are slowing down. The challenge that faces us is not to let that fact slow us down spiritually, but to cultivate the maximum zeal for the closing phase of our earthly lives.
So again we ask, what is zeal? Zeal means priority, passion, and effort in pursuing God’s cause. Maintaining zeal Godward as our bodies wear out is the special discipline to which we aging Christians are called.
First revealed truth: We know that a new body awaits each servant of Christ (2 Cor. 5:1).
Second revealed truth: We know that the experience of moving into this upgraded accommodation, our resurrection body, linked as it will be in some way with the body we have now—though as different from it as a seed is from the plant that grows out of it (see 1 Cor. 15:35–49)—will come to us as an enormous enrichment of the embodied life as we have known it up till now.
Third revealed truth: In heaven, clothed in our new bodies, we shall see and be at home with Jesus our Lord in a way that while we inhabit our present bodies is not possible.
Fourth revealed truth: We, with all other Christians and all other people too, will one day face the judgment seat of Christ.
What will be determined then (on resurrection day, presumably) is not where we shall spend eternity—that was decided when we first committed ourselves to Christ and received our forgiveness and reconciliation with God through the cross—but in what condition we shall spend that eternity of life with Christ.
Do they bring anything unique to the table of Christian fellowship, of kingdom vision, and of disciple-making strategy? Four things touched on earlier call for mention here.
Churches, society, and seniors themselves are still adjusting to the likelihood that most Christians who hit seventy still have before them at least a decade in which some form of active service for Christ remains practicable.
Spiritual maturity is a deep, well-tested relationship to our triune God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and a quality of relationship with both believers and unbelievers that embraces concern, sympathy, warmth, care, wisdom, insight, discernment, and understanding. It is a quality that is identifiable only in relationships; one that all pastoral ministry requires; and one that should, and in fact constantly does, mark out Christian seniors, equipping them for ongoing usefulness in care-centered, outreach-oriented congregations.
Humility is the product of ongoing repentance as one decides against, turns from, and by watching and praying seeks to steer clear of pride in all its forms. And as the battle against pride in the heart is lifelong, so humility should become an ever more deeply seated attitude of living at the disposal of God and others—an attitude that veteran Christians should increasingly display. Real spiritual growth is always growth downward, so to speak, into profounder humility, which in healthy souls will become more and more apparent as they age.
By intensity I mean not nervous tension, but strength of focus and concentration on pleasing God and furthering his cause and his glory—in a word, zeal, as we analyzed it a moment ago.
As seniors’ powers of body, memory, and creativity grow less, so their conscious focus on their hope of glory should grow sharper and their meditations on it grow more joyful and sustained. As this happens, passion to continue being of use to God and his people, in holiness, love, and what Scriptures conceives as neighborliness, should and will intensify, to the very end.
Ask God, and consult your congregation’s pastoral leaders, as to how you might do the best you can with what you have got and model in your own person the mobilizing of over-sixty-fives to continue giving all they can for as long as they can to contribute to the mutual ministry that goes on within God’s flock.
November 30, 2014
"Finishing Our Course with Joy" is written to longtime Christians who are now 65 or older although it is helpful for those of us younger than that as well. It is a quick, encouraging book.
It acknowledges that as we grow older our bodies decline, and it asks us to acknowledge that decline. (While it doesn't mention this, I can think of seniors who need to give up their privilege to drive. I hope I have the wisdom and courage to do that when the time comes.) However, it also reminds us that we have a future heavenly hope: a new body, an enriched life, a closer relationship with Jesus, and, possibly, rewards tied to this life. As a result, we should continue to live with zeal for God's glory. We should continue learning and leading. This means living life one day at a time yet with a plan for each day's business. Keep the goal of glorifying God in focus and maintain the effort. Live each day with an awareness of Christ's presence. Set aside daydreaming and nostalgia. Finally, live ready to go when Christ comes for you.
While this summarizes the main points, there are many interesting, thoughtful tidbits tucked into this short book. It is worth picking up if you or someone you know fits the book's intended audience.
It acknowledges that as we grow older our bodies decline, and it asks us to acknowledge that decline. (While it doesn't mention this, I can think of seniors who need to give up their privilege to drive. I hope I have the wisdom and courage to do that when the time comes.) However, it also reminds us that we have a future heavenly hope: a new body, an enriched life, a closer relationship with Jesus, and, possibly, rewards tied to this life. As a result, we should continue to live with zeal for God's glory. We should continue learning and leading. This means living life one day at a time yet with a plan for each day's business. Keep the goal of glorifying God in focus and maintain the effort. Live each day with an awareness of Christ's presence. Set aside daydreaming and nostalgia. Finally, live ready to go when Christ comes for you.
While this summarizes the main points, there are many interesting, thoughtful tidbits tucked into this short book. It is worth picking up if you or someone you know fits the book's intended audience.
May 4, 2014
14 point font!
This is the hutzpah of Piper, Strachan and Platt for the aging saint.
Pastors should somehow fold this into his visitation or discipleship strategy for the aging of his congregation.
Packer takes on the popular understanding of "retirement": "I think it is one of the huge follies of our time, about which some frank speaking is in order and indeed overdue" (p. 29). And that he does with an irenic tone and gospel courage.
Without using the cliché "It's hard to teach an old dog new tricks", Packer surely challenges the notion by saying that senior saints can indeed grow in holiness, knowledge, leadership/influence, gratitude, humility, joy and zeal. "Maintaining zeal Godward as our bodies wear out IS the special discipline to which we aging Christians are called" (p. 76).
This small but powerful book appropriately ends with a call for the aging saints of the church to amp it up and "so far as our bodily health allows, we should aim to be found running the last lap if the race of our Christian life, as we would say, flat out. The final sprint, so I urge, should be a sprint indeed."
This is the hutzpah of Piper, Strachan and Platt for the aging saint.
Pastors should somehow fold this into his visitation or discipleship strategy for the aging of his congregation.
Packer takes on the popular understanding of "retirement": "I think it is one of the huge follies of our time, about which some frank speaking is in order and indeed overdue" (p. 29). And that he does with an irenic tone and gospel courage.
Without using the cliché "It's hard to teach an old dog new tricks", Packer surely challenges the notion by saying that senior saints can indeed grow in holiness, knowledge, leadership/influence, gratitude, humility, joy and zeal. "Maintaining zeal Godward as our bodies wear out IS the special discipline to which we aging Christians are called" (p. 76).
This small but powerful book appropriately ends with a call for the aging saints of the church to amp it up and "so far as our bodily health allows, we should aim to be found running the last lap if the race of our Christian life, as we would say, flat out. The final sprint, so I urge, should be a sprint indeed."
February 28, 2022
Packer was a giant on the 20th century Evangelical scene. Consequently, his voice is always deserving of an audience.
This particular work is compact focuses primarily on urging aging believers to never abandon their responsibilities to work for the kingdom. In that regard, it is full of Scripture and passion. I did walk away feeling that Packer could have elaborated more on how elders can foster a wisdom culture in their immediate spheres of influence. Also, this is a huge topic for Church cultures to embrace as we live in an era where newness is seen as the ultimate validation of relevance.
This particular work is compact focuses primarily on urging aging believers to never abandon their responsibilities to work for the kingdom. In that regard, it is full of Scripture and passion. I did walk away feeling that Packer could have elaborated more on how elders can foster a wisdom culture in their immediate spheres of influence. Also, this is a huge topic for Church cultures to embrace as we live in an era where newness is seen as the ultimate validation of relevance.
February 14, 2018
Excellent little book about aging well as a Christian. I recommend it to young people for two reasons: 1) it provides insight into the lives of our elderly brothers and sisters in Christ so that we might better serve them and 2) it holds up a picture of how to "run the race" to the very end, and the process of finishing well starts now.
April 13, 2018
As one who has arrived in the age of senior citizen discounts and letters from funeral homes about prearrangement, I found this book helpful and hopeful. Every seasoned saint could profit from it. All could benefit, however, as we will ultimately reach the homestretch of life and need to finish well. This book will energize you for the final kick!
May 21, 2018
Very good work for those of us who are getting on in years. The fact that we (we’ll, some of us) are no longer young does not mean that it's time for younger people to pick up the mantle and let us live out our lives in peace. The authors remind that these are our best years and why this is so. Great and inspiring book.
March 3, 2017
Great reminder about our responsibility as we get into the retirement age. Don't quit. Use your influence and maturity to reach the next generation. Don't slow down, pick up the pace and move faster.....
November 4, 2023
A short but very thought-provoking book on what it looks like to continue serving the Lord as one enters into the Golden Years. While I hopefully have a long-life ahead of me, I thought it would be valuable to get Packer's perspective on what advanced age changes/doesn't change for the life of the believer. It was quite valuable.
He pushes back on the notion that old age marks the end of a life of service, rather he suggests that senior Christ-follower's may offer their greatest contributions yet.
First, by helping others follow the Lord with more SPIRITUAL MATURITY ("a deep, well-tested relationship to our triune God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and a quality of relationship with both believers and unbelievers that embraces concern, sympathy, warmth, care, wisdom, insight, discernment, and understanding.").
Second, by showing deep HUMILITY ("the product of ongoing repentance as one decides against, turns from, and by watching and praying seeks to steer clear of pride in all its forms. And as the battle against pride in the heart is lifelong, so humility should become an ever more deeply seated attitude of living at the disposal of God and others -- an attitude that veteran Christians should increasingly display. Real spiritual growth is always grown downward, so to speak, into profound humility, which in healthy souls will become more and more apparent as they age.").
He pushes back on the notion that old age marks the end of a life of service, rather he suggests that senior Christ-follower's may offer their greatest contributions yet.
First, by helping others follow the Lord with more SPIRITUAL MATURITY ("a deep, well-tested relationship to our triune God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and a quality of relationship with both believers and unbelievers that embraces concern, sympathy, warmth, care, wisdom, insight, discernment, and understanding.").
Second, by showing deep HUMILITY ("the product of ongoing repentance as one decides against, turns from, and by watching and praying seeks to steer clear of pride in all its forms. And as the battle against pride in the heart is lifelong, so humility should become an ever more deeply seated attitude of living at the disposal of God and others -- an attitude that veteran Christians should increasingly display. Real spiritual growth is always grown downward, so to speak, into profound humility, which in healthy souls will become more and more apparent as they age.").
January 8, 2020
Packer writes of old age in the Bible as 'ripeness' - aging under God and by grace, will bring wisdom, that is an enlarged capacity for discerning, choosing, and encouraging; see Prov 1-7 p19
Right Way
Like a runner or jockey, keep something in reserve for the final sprint p21
1. live for God one day at a time
2. live in the present moment
3. live ready to go when Christ comes for you p24 2 Cor 5:10
Wrong Way
culture promotes idleness, self-indulgence, irresponsibility ... which is uselessness
we are tempted by the world, the flesh and the devil as we plot the proper path in our declining health and age p47
"retirement" is not in the Bible p62
Keep
learning p65
leading p66
Heb 12:1-2
2 Tim 4:6-8
1. clear headed goal orientation
2. purposeful planning
3. resolute concentration
4. supreme effort
we want a LIFE OF GRATITUDE to be displayed 71
Cultivate maximum ZEAL, for God and godliness
- Neh 3-6
- Jn 2:17
with priority, passion and effort in pursuing God's cause p74, to please God
grow in long-term hope, eternal hope that looks beyond this world and extends endlessly p81
2 Cor 4:16-5:10
- a new house awaits us
- a new body awaits Christians
- our continual purpose will be grateful, whole-hearted, adoring ... worship to please Him
- a final judgment awaits which will be viewed through the life, death, sacrifice, resurrection and ascension of Jesus p90
Right Way
Like a runner or jockey, keep something in reserve for the final sprint p21
1. live for God one day at a time
2. live in the present moment
3. live ready to go when Christ comes for you p24 2 Cor 5:10
Wrong Way
culture promotes idleness, self-indulgence, irresponsibility ... which is uselessness
we are tempted by the world, the flesh and the devil as we plot the proper path in our declining health and age p47
"retirement" is not in the Bible p62
Keep
learning p65
leading p66
Heb 12:1-2
2 Tim 4:6-8
1. clear headed goal orientation
2. purposeful planning
3. resolute concentration
4. supreme effort
we want a LIFE OF GRATITUDE to be displayed 71
Cultivate maximum ZEAL, for God and godliness
- Neh 3-6
- Jn 2:17
with priority, passion and effort in pursuing God's cause p74, to please God
grow in long-term hope, eternal hope that looks beyond this world and extends endlessly p81
2 Cor 4:16-5:10
- a new house awaits us
- a new body awaits Christians
- our continual purpose will be grateful, whole-hearted, adoring ... worship to please Him
- a final judgment awaits which will be viewed through the life, death, sacrifice, resurrection and ascension of Jesus p90
April 6, 2021
Excellent word for aging Christians... printed in a large font, it is short and to the point. Perhaps in deference to older brains, there is a detailed general index as well as a Scripture index at the back. In this last book written by one of the shining treasures of our time, JI Packer urges seniors to not sit back and take it easy once retired. He calls us to press on and glorify God with zeal in our families and especially the Church, as much as our weakening bodies will allow. I always think of Packer with a smile on his face and joy in his voice as he lived out his long fruitful life, finishing his course five days before his 94th birthday.
February 17, 2024
This year I am reading 60 books as I turn 60 and how appropriate this one is. Short and sweet - this walks one through their later years of what ministry can look like as one ages. Ever wonder what old is? JI Packer says this 65-75 is "New Old", 75-85 is "Medium Old" and 85 and up is "Old Old". Where is one's place at these different ages? One's ministry's gifts don't diminish with time(unless there is a physical or mental ailment) but one's gifts atrophy for lack of use. So keep on doing and keep on using those gifts to see what God has in store for all stages of life. Don't let age and lack of use be the reason those gifts deteriorate - get out there and use them.
July 25, 2024
This was a quick little book that was basically an exhortation to continue on in service to the Lord as we age. I found it very encouraging, especially the last chapter that talked about our hope looking toward our resurrection bodies, and also how we can minister to others as we age.
I appreciated the author’s respectful approach to explaining the difference between Baptist’s and Reformed regarding infant baptism. He was fair in representing the Baptist view and objections without being dismissive toward them. Something I have not seen from the other camp toward the Reformed. I can’t wait to pass this along to my parents and grandma. Recommended!
I appreciated the author’s respectful approach to explaining the difference between Baptist’s and Reformed regarding infant baptism. He was fair in representing the Baptist view and objections without being dismissive toward them. Something I have not seen from the other camp toward the Reformed. I can’t wait to pass this along to my parents and grandma. Recommended!
January 30, 2023
I've read this today travelling to London and waiting here at Paddington for the train home. In fact, I'm just about to catch the train. It's a much needed book, which I only recently discovered, and timely with retirement in a few months, after 34 years in pastoral ministry. Jim Packer helpfully debunks the secular myth that retirement means a reduction in Christian spiritual zeal that matches a reduction in physical and mental abilities. Clear-headed, comforting, and soul-stirring. Thank you Dr. Packer.
September 18, 2025
This one might be more of a 3.5, but I lean toward 4. It is short, sweet, and solid. Packer very simply identifies challenges for those who are aging, theologically applies the doctrine of embodied souls to these challenges, calls aging Christians to a path of holiness and zeal even in old age (as opposed to slowly fading into nothingness through leisure and obsolescence), and inspires to take advantage of their "ripeness" for the good of coming generations. What I loved most about this book was the emphasis on real influence on real people in your life (family and church).
December 8, 2019
How does old age affect our walk with God, do we slow down, do we disappear. Packer dwells on how our aging should increase our zeal for the Lord . Even though it is directed to a particular age group it holds good for all who are on a journey with Christ. The truth of continuously learning His Word and leading others to Him is the essence of our lives in Christ. The book focus on these thoughts and allows the reader to understanding his body and soul in light of our hope of our future.
July 13, 2020
This is a short read with the counter cultural message of serving God with zeal even in our later years. J. I Packer speaks from experience as well as from the authority of Scripture calling the reader to step out in faith and keep serving the Lord even as physical strength wanes. It is not contemporary wisdom for sure, but rather Christological wisdom which is very encouraging. It's an invitation to keep going until we see Him face to face! I recommend it for all ages.
December 27, 2024
Quintessential Packer- loving exhortation to finish the race set before you with zeal to do all to walk with God, please Him and glorify Him every day.
Live for God one day at a time
Live in the present
Live ready to go when Christ comes for you… p. 22-25
P. 70
Run the race…
With a clearheaded goal
With purposeful planning
With resolute concentration
With supreme effort
Zeal- “priority, passion and effort in pursuing God’s cause” p. 74
Live for God one day at a time
Live in the present
Live ready to go when Christ comes for you… p. 22-25
P. 70
Run the race…
With a clearheaded goal
With purposeful planning
With resolute concentration
With supreme effort
Zeal- “priority, passion and effort in pursuing God’s cause” p. 74
January 13, 2020
Short but invaluable biblical advice to seniors
J.I. Packer admonishes seniors to continue the fight of faith, finish the race, and lay hold of the prize. He also gives godly correction to battle our unbilical thinking about aging and ministry. Seniors have much to offer the church and have no less fruit-bearing potential just because they are aging.
J.I. Packer admonishes seniors to continue the fight of faith, finish the race, and lay hold of the prize. He also gives godly correction to battle our unbilical thinking about aging and ministry. Seniors have much to offer the church and have no less fruit-bearing potential just because they are aging.
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