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Day 158, or June 7. Retirement? You can't be serious. Our thoughts today are rooted

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in Psalm 37, verse 3. Trust in the Lord and do good. Dwell in the land and enjoy safe

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pasture.

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First the big picture surrounding this verse. Psalm 37 is a psalm for individuals rather

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than temple worship. It stimulates our thinking about knowing intimacy with God for the whole

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of our lifetime. The Bible tells us that David reigned for forty years and lived to be seventy.

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By the time of David, the longevity of the patriarchs had passed away, and average lifespans

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were usually shorter than ours today. However, David didn't retire. He was active right

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up to his death, and that's a great example for us to follow.

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And now our action step for today. Inactive Christianity is a contradiction in terms.

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Whether our involvement is front line or back seat, we must be active if our faith is to

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continue to grow. David knew that resting in the Lord didn't mean doing nothing, but

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on the contrary, it meant doing lots whilst being safe and secure with God. For most of

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us a change in pace or even a change in ministry is often essential, but sliding into total

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inactivity is not an option.

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When the concept of retirement was introduced into Western society, and that wasn't long

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ago, the revolutionary idea of stopping work and then doing nothing was born. My grandparents

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generation worked so hard that their retirement was all too brief, and for many in history

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it has been the same. In the twenty-first century, however, we are now seeing people

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living so long that they spend as much time retired as they did in employment. Hobbies

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have their place, and extra holidays are great, but continuing our work with the God who created

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us is the way to make the most of today and prepare us for all that is to come. Stay as

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active as you can and enjoy life to the full, because that is surely what Jesus had in mind

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when He said that He came to bring us life in all its fullness.