Could it be? Was God giving my husband and I direction following a time of fasting and prayer? After voicing the nudge that I felt, I discovered God was speaking the same thing to Paul!
Now in our 70s, both of us asked God, “What would You have us do since we’re no longer spring chicks?” God heard and answered. He reminded us of a word that He had given us many years ago. “God doesn’t put new wine into old wine skins. New wine requires new wine skins.”
God wasn’t finished with us! He hadn’t put us out to pasture, to live out the rest of our lives in solitude. The harvest is ripe, and young age isn’t a prerequisite for doing His work out in the fields. In fact, His wisdom happens to walk hand-in-hand with old age. In our case, the only thing we really needed to do His bidding were new wine skins.
God changed us. He gave us new wine skins, and His Holy Spirit began to fill them with new wine—new desire and enthusiasm. “You’re never too old,” He said, followed by, “It’s never too late.”
During my senior year of High School I attended an outreach to teens who needed a personal relationship with Jesus called Youth for Christ. Now, God was asking Paul and I to reach out to another group of seniors, those 65 and older, so we started a small group called “Seniors 4 Christ.”
Our first meeting began with a visit from Gayle and Myrna Brogdon, vessels our Father used to start God Stories. We invited them to share the passion that God had given them for the lost. At the age of 80+, they were perfect examples of new wine skins carrying precious wine to those thirsty.
If you’re a senior, you’re never too old to start something new so that Jesus will be lifted up and glorified. If God can move in those beyond age 80, then God can do the same in us. We are still useful vessels of honor for our Master’s service no mater how old we may be.
Psalms 92:14 says, “[The righteous] will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh & green …”
Debbie Diehl
Harlingen, TX
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