Our church had a gracious reception for my retirement and one of our elders, Robert Causey, gave me some sage advice, “Don’t let the old man in.” I asked him, “What do you mean by that statement?” He related the story about Toby Keith who asked Clint Eastwood how he managed to maintain energy and keep working. Eastwood replied that he just wakes up every morning, stays active, and “doesn’t let the old man in”. That led Toby Keith to write this song:

Don’t let the old man in, I wanna leave this alone.
Can’t leave it up to him, he’s knocking on my door.
And I knew all of my life that someday it would end.
Get up and go outside, don’t let the old man in.

Many moons I have lived, my body’s weathered and worn.
Ask yourself how would you be, if you didn’t know the day you were born.
Try to love on your wife, and stay close to your friends.
Toast each sundown with wine, don’t let the old man in.

When he rides up on his horse and you feel that cold bitter wind.
Look out your window and smile, don’t let the old man in.
Don’t let the old man in.

The past few years I’ve known that the old man has been trying to get in. I realize that eventually he will enter, but I’m doing my best to keep him out as long as I can. I’m writing this post to keep myself accountable. So what’s my strategy?

1. I plan to run at least three times a week. I am refreshed in the outdoors – whether it’s running along the beach at the edge of our continent, or running through a forest trail.

2. I plan to swim at least three times a week. I feel alive when I’m pushing my physical limits.

3. I will stay intellectually curious – I have several writing projects on the agenda and a wonderful library to keep my mind stimulated.

4. My family is one of my greatest blessings. I look forward to being with my beloved, Jeanne, and our children, and grandchildren. I look forward to long walks with Jeanne, helping our children with projects, and playing games or going birding with the grandchildren.

Behold, children are a gift of the Lord; the fruit of the womb is a reward. (Psalm 127:3)

5. I look forward to investing time with God. I realize that I’m not as fast and as strong as I used to be, but the inner man is being renewed.

Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer person is decaying, yet our inner person is being renewed day by day. (2 Corinthians 4:16)

The phrase lose heart conveys the idea of giving in to our base nature and becoming spiritually exhausted. Paul however, refused to capitulate to his circumstances and yield to exhaustion, but he demonstrated remarkable tenacity in the midst of adversity:

we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. (2 Corinthians 4:8-10)

Perhaps Paul was feeling the cumulative effect of the many years of ministry challenges that caused him to remark that his outer man was decaying. Paul was keenly aware of the weaknesses of his earthly body, but he also realized the sanctifying work of God in his inner man. God was transforming him spiritually into the image of His Son:

and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him. (Colossians 3:10)

How are we able not to lost heart in the face of extreme adversity? Paul revealed that we must maintain an eternal perspective:

For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:17-18)

Paul viewed his near death experiences (stonings, floggings, shipwreck, cold, and exposure) as momentary, light affliction. How could he say that? Paul contrasted the temporal, with the eternal, and the physical, with the spiritual. The physical is that which is seen and the spiritual is that which is unseen.

Paul taught that as we become weaker physically, we can become stronger spiritually. We must realize that those things that are enjoyable and those things that are troubling are momentary, but that which matters is eternal. An eternal perspective can enable us to face life’s difficulties and not lose heart. We must look past our momentary problems to the eternal spiritual reality – and not let the old man in!