Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained in the way
of righteousness.
The
glory of young men is their strength, gray
hair the splendor of the old.
Proverbs 16:31, 20:29
This ends this reading from God's holy word.
Thanks be to God.
I have a confession to make.
I’m getting older.
It’s true and the indicators are everywhere.
My two “children” are now 31 and 27. Ouch.
I have three grandchildren now and the oldest is in kindergarten
already. Double ouch.
I have more aches and pains than I have ever had before, real ouches
that I have lost count of.
And I have a gray hair or two which is always the REAL indicator that we
are getting up in years, the indicator we try to do the most about in the way
of disguising and hiding the visible evidence of our aging.
Look at the TV and internet ads sometime in regard to gray hair and you’ll
see there is no shortage of options in getting rid of that gray in your
coiffure.
Clairol has a Gray Solution. Just for Men touts themselves as having the
world’s leading gray grooming products. Grecian Formula promises to restore
your natural hair color in just three weeks.
Friends, this is good news for aging persons like me or those who are
already aged. Sing alleluias because we can get rid of the gray in our hair!
All it will do is cost us a few dollars to by the products. It’s just too easy.
But what if we aren’t to mess with our graying? What if the Bible speaks
to us about gray hair in a way that should influence us toward leaving things
the way they are? What if it is God’s will for us to have gray hair? And what
if God actually wants our gray hair to serve as a sign to others, a sign that
could make us more effective in our ministry work in His name?
To look at the potential answer to these questions, I present to you
these two proverbs:
Gray hair is a crown of
splendor; it is attained in the way of righteousness. Proverbs 16:31
The glory of young men is their strength, gray hair the splendor of the old.
Proverbs 20:29
To have gray hair is to be crowned in splendor, which is defined as magnificent
and splendid appearance, grandeur, richness, glory, beauty, and elegance. It is
the glory of the one endowed with it just as strength is to a younger person. That
should be enough for us to not mess with it but there is one other very
important reason we should leave our gray alone.
It
is an indicator of righteousness.
Scripture
tells us that gray hair is attained in the way of righteousness. In other
words, one who wears the crown of gray has lived a long time and lived to tell
about it. Living in righteousness, they have made it as far as they have because
they have lived right and from a Christian perspective, this means they have
lived in a way that has glorified the very Lord who has blessed them with life
and life abundantly. The gray hair means they have figured out how to live for
the Lord and thus possess an awful lot of knowledge to be shared with those who
are young and trying to learn how to spell life.
Cover
up your gray and you are turning in your crown of splendor, a crown that lets
others know that you have wisdom to share with them, wisdom that can lead them
to their own righteousness, and yes, their own gray hair some day.
God’s
word here is sending a special message to those who are growing in age. The
message is to rejoice in your graying for it is the crown of splendor, the
glory earned through seeking and finding righteousness through many years of
service to our Lord.
So,
stay in the gray and save the money you might spend on those anti-graying
products. The Lord surely has something better for you to do with that money
and as you continue to walk in His righteousness, He will show you what that
is. He always does.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
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