2 Samuel 5:3-4: So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David made a
covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord. And they anointed David king over Israel. David
was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
Someone once defined middle age as “a brief period of time between being too young to do
something and being too old to want to.” And there’s truth to that. It seems we spend the first part
of our lives being told, “No, you’re too young to date. You’re too young to drive. You’re too young
to get married.”
Then we spend the latter years of our lives being told, “No, you’re too old to start a new career.
You’re too old to go back to school. You’re told to live alone.” In American society, age is often a
critical factor.
I suspect when David began to reign at the age of 30 some said, “David, you’re too young to be
king. We need someone older.” By the time he had ruled for 40 years and reached the respectable
age of 70, others were probably saying, “David, you’re too old to be king over Israel. It’s time to
turn it over to someone younger.” But in God’s sight, age is not really an issue.
Scripture indicates that God uses the very young. The prophet Jeremiah said “Ah, Lord GOD!
Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth” (Jer. 1:6), but God used him anyway. Timothy, too, must
have ministered at a very young age because Paul admonished him, “Let no one despise your
youth” (1 Tim. 4:12).
On the other hand, there were men like Caleb, who at the age of 85 could still claim, “I wholly
followed the Lord” (Josh. 14:6-14). The apostle John continued to minister and, according to
tradition, wrote the Book of Revelation in his elder years.
Is someone telling you that you’re too young to serve the Lord? Don’t believe it. Is someone telling
you that you’re too old to respond to God’s call? Forget it. With God, age is never an excuse. Don’t
follow their advice: follow your heart.
AGE IS NO ISSUE WITH AN AGELESS GOD.