[329]. A MESSAGE FROM A POEM - WE ARE JUST PASSING THROUGH
This poem touches a subject that affects so many, and will likely affect some of us if the Lord tarries His coming. The title, “We Are just Passing Through” relates to our passage through life but looks more at the older end of life.
I speak about the failing in old age, or dementia that comes upon most, in one form or another. The mind gets cloudy and recall fades, and the person needs care in the final years.
All this happens because sin causes death. That goes right back to Eden when God said that disobedience in doing what God forbade (eating the fruit) would lead to death.
There is a verse in the KJV that reads this way – {{1 Thessalonians 5:14 “And we beseech you, brethren, rebuke the unquiet, COMFORT THE FEEBLE MINDED, support the weak, be patient towards all men.”}}. The words “feeble minded” have changed meaning over the centuries, and it better translated today as – {{1 Thessalonians 5:14 “We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, ENCOURAGE THE FAINTHEARTED, help the weak, be patient with all men.”}}. (NASB)
Paul there is speaking about the timid ones, those who become afraid easily. Nevertheless, as we get older, some of us get a bit feeble minded and we do need looking over. In my experience Governments do very little for ailing, older people. I think some politicians see older people, especially those with difficulties, as a drain on society.
The last stanza is important and a real challenge for young people. I wrote this –
“Achieve for God before dim years come,
And you struggle to understand.”
This is not unlike what Solomon wrote –
{{Ecclesiastes 12:1-2 “Remember also your Creator IN THE DAYS OF YOUR YOUTH, before the evil days come and the years draw near when you will say, “I have no delight in them”; BEFORE the sun, the light, the moon, and the stars are darkened, and clouds return after the rain”}}
{{Ecclesiastes 12:6-7 “REMEMBER HIM BEFORE THE SILVER CORD IS BROKEN and the golden bowl is crushed, the pitcher by the well is shattered and the wheel at the cistern is crushed. Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.}}
Young people, while you still have the energy of youth and middle age, work for God all you can, and don’t say to yourself, “I will give God more time when I am older,” for it is too late then.
We all grow older and mental faculties fade and fail and the energy store starts to break down. Old age is when we prepare to meet the Lord, NOT TO START working for the Lord. It is almost too late by then.
I wrote this poem 5 years ago and as I look back over it, I am amazed at the help God gave to construct it. The glory is his. I have a poem on SermonCentral dealing with Christians in older age you may be interested in - https://sermoncentral.com/sermon-illustrations/103014/090-poem-message-specific-for-elderly-christians-the-three-ds-by-ron-ferguson
God bless you all.
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WE ARE JUST PASSING THROUGH
A cloudiness will often descend
Upon the human mind with age,
That makes it harder to comprehend
Things you hear, and the written page.
The ageing process is not that good
For people affected by it,
And they feel themselves not understood,
With minds, that now, are not well lit.
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With fading faculties, it is sad
To see these people now distraught,
Not recalling facts that once they had;
How they lived, things they made and bought.
Dementia in all its described types,
That overtakes so many minds,
So like wiper blades, the brain it wipes,
To discern realism through blinds.
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We all grow old and we pass away.
The body is like a machine
Which rusts, and then falls into decay,
And after years pass, is unseen.
In the image of God created;
Our time allotted here since birth.
For God or self, how are we rated?
We’ll all go the way of the earth.
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Achieve for God before dim years come,
And you struggle to understand.
Work for God’s kingdom ‘ere you succumb
To depart, God’s treasures in hand.
God who fashioned you, will sustain you,
Even in your faulty, old age.
We pass to great glory, it is true;
Received on God’s heavenly stage.
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16 October 2021 R E Ferguson Metre = 9-8 throughout
A-B-A-B-C-D-C-D