LIVING YOUR BEST LIFE!

The one thing we most look forward to is our retirement years, especially when we reach middle age. It has been said that our final years should be the best and happiest years of our life. But, bad decisions in our earlier years can have a major impact on our senior years. What can we do to improve those final years and even reverse some of the bad decisions we made in our younger years?

We have been looking at how to be successful with money and the other resources God has given us. We have determined that successfully managing money and the possessions God has given us involves putting Him first in everything we do.

Now we look at managing our earlier years so that our later years may be peaceful, happy years. We will examine God’s guidance and counseling in our final years. How should we prepare for retirement? From a biblical perspective, we consider some of the things we should do and some things we should not do.  

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Asking for God’s Help

Holy Father, we have made some major blunders in our earlier years that have or can potentially impact the peace and happiness of our latter years. We ask that you forgive us for our foolish mistakes and outright disobedience. Help us redeem the time while we have time. In Jesus’ Name, Amen

As we move toward the end of our earning year and move into our retirement years, we start looking at how we can ensure that we have enough financial support to take us through our later years and what shall we do with those assets that remain at the end of our life.  These are big decisions that many of us dread making. But they are decisions that must be made. Moreover, the transition from working to retirement can be very stressful, especially as it relates to our finances. What is the best way to manage our finances as we make provisions for retirement? 

An even greater concern is the concern for what the future holds for us. Many worry about dying; they are concerned about what will happen to them at death.  Some worry about dying too soon and not having made sufficient provisions for their families. Still, others are concerned that they might outlive the money they have put aside for retirement. Others worry about losing the money they have. There are also those who are concerned about who will take care of them if they get sick.

However, Revelation 14:13 gives us a glimpse beyond all these concerns when it says:

13 Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.” (Revelation 14:13) (Split)

We do not have to fear the future, we do not have to worry about retiring, nor do we need to worry about if we will have sufficient funds or whether we have made ample preparations for our children, who are now grown. Where do these worries and fears come from? They come from the enemy, Satan. He wants us to doubt God, who has promised never to leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).

Testimonies to the Church offers some great advice on this:

Saying that If we take the position which God would have us take, then our last days might be our best and happiest. . . Therefore, we should lay aside anxiety and burdens, and occupy our time as happily as we can, as we are being ripened for our heavenly home.”—Testimonies for the Church, vol. 1, p. 424. Adapted (Sp;ot)

This means that we plan and make preparation, but there is no need to worry because our greatest concern is our heavenly home.

In the Bible, in Luke 12:16-21

Jesus tells a parable, a story about a rich young man who had made ample provision for his retirement. Yet, he was called a fool. Why, then, was he called a fool?

16 And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive.

17 And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’

18 Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.

19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”‘

20 But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’

21 So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:16-21 NASB)

His concern was not his eternal home, nor was he concerned about his works following his death. What was his concern? And how can it help us with what we should do when planning for retirement?

Though the main point of this parable is not about retirement, it does give us some insight into what we should do about retirement.

The point is, if you are considering retirement with the idea of accumulating assets to be solely used for your benefit, you might want to reconsider. No, this is not saying we should spend all the money that we saved for retirement. Nor is it saying that acquiring wealth is a bad thing.  The real problem is our attitude toward the possession God has given us.

The real problem is the rich man’s statement in Luke 12:19

19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”‘ (Luke 12:19)

The book Christ Object Lesson points out that this man’s aim was no higher than that of an animal that lives and dies.

He lived as if there were no God, no heaven, no future life; as if everything he possessed were his own, and he owed nothing to God or man.”—Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons, pp. 257, 258.

You see, as we move toward the stage of our latter years, as in our earlier years, we must not think only of ourselves. As servants of the Most High God, we must also consider the needs of others.

In other words,  if it is our intent to relax, take ease, travel and take cruises with no consideration for those in need, we are behaving like the rich man that Jesus talks about.

It is evident that this man was by no means lazy, nor was there any indication that he was dishonest. His problem was how intended to spend what God had given him to manage. God gave this rich man his wealth not only to care for his personal needs but also to help others in need. His wealth did not belong to him. God had made him the manager of his resources, with the expectation that he would use them according to His divine will,  but instead, the rich man decided to store it all up for his own personal use.

The point here is that none of us know when we will die. Storing up for the future is not bad, but if it is stored up without concern for others that may be in need, that’s a problem.  

We don’t know when we are going to die. Therefore, we should live each day as if it was our last. How? By waking up every day with the intent of carrying out God’s will instead of living a life of selfishness with no thought of others.

Furthermore, the issue of taking ease, to stop working altogether, is not what the Bible teaches. As a matter of fact, in Bible, we find that people worked as long as they were able. For instance, many of the writers of the Bible worked long into their senior years and did some of the most important work in those years. Thus, getting older doesn’t mean that we should become inactive. We should continue helping others and doing good work even after we retire.

This is exactly what Jesus counseled us to do in Mathew 24:44-46 while waiting for him to return. He counsels us to watch and work.

44 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

45 “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season?

46 Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. (Matthew 24:44-46)

This advice is for us in our retirement years, too.

The rich man fell into the trap of desiring ease. If not careful, we can fall into this same trap as we enter our retirement years. This is why it is important for us to decide what we are living for. If it is for eternity, then we will live to be a servant to God and a servant to others. Then what do we do with the assets that remain as we move closer to the end of our life? Should we sell it all and give it to the poor? Find out on Day 3: You Can’t Take It with You!

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My Local Church:

 

Hebron Seventh-day Adventist Church

 7902 Wheatly Street

Houston, TX 77088

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