My Retirement

The other day I found myself all in a flux over retirement. It seems that my pension wasn't what it was supposed to be. Investment specialists reminded me over the radio, through the mail, even at lectureships that I've got to be ready for retirement or I won't enjoy it.

All this talk about the future made me focus on a period of my life that had not much concerned me in the past but now loomed large and frightening on the horizon. Like most things, I brought this to the Lord in prayer and after a time realized a few things about retirement that I hadn't thought of before.

1. Retirement can be the best time of life.

Kids are gone, freedom to come and go, the wisdom and experience that come only with a lifetime of practice. Retirement, if health permits, can be the earthly crown rewarded for a good life.

2. Retirement can be my best gift to God.

I realized that my worry stemmed from a desire to experience retirement from a worldly perspective (have enough money to do what I want). But God promises to provide for me now and in retirement if I seek His Kingdom first.

So I'm still trying to put a few dollars away each month like the investment experts say but I've decided to avoid the worry over retirement by giving that period of my life over to Him.

I now understand that retirement can be the most precious time in my life and so it becomes more important to offer it to the Lord. If I do this, I will have the pleasure of knowing that I have given the Lord everything I have had, even the best part that, unconsciously, I had been coveting for myself.