[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Farticles\u002Fa-good-old-age":3,"\u002Farticles\u002Fa-good-old-age-surround":101},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"bibleBooks":8,"body":12,"columnName":82,"date":83,"description":84,"extension":85,"image":86,"meta":87,"minRead":88,"navigation":89,"path":90,"postType":91,"publication":92,"publicationUrl":86,"seo":93,"stem":94,"topics":95,"__hash__":100},"blog\u002Farticles\u002Fa-good-old-age.md","A Good Old Age",{"name":7},"Dave Faust",[9,10,11],"Colossians","Proverbs","Judges",{"type":13,"value":14,"toc":78},"minimark",[15,24,27,30,33,36,39,42,45,48,51,54,57,60,63,66,69,72,75],[16,17,18,19,23],"p",{},"The Bible says, \"Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone\" (Colossians 4:6). I thought of that verse recently when I came across a well-worn book published in 1891 by the English preacher, Charles H. Spurgeon. The book is called ",[20,21,22],"em",{},"The Salt-Cellars: Being a Collection of Proverbs, Together With Homely Notes Thereon","—a rather long title for a book full of short quotes!",[16,25,26],{},"The book's cover says, \"These three things go to the making of a proverb: shortness, sense, and salt.\" Here are some interesting quotes I gleaned from the book:",[16,28,29],{},"Prayer is the key of the morning and the lock of the night.",[16,31,32],{},"No man is the worse for knowing the worst of himself.",[16,34,35],{},"Not to break is better than to mend.",[16,37,38],{},"When an ignorant man knows himself to be ignorant, he is no longer ignorant.",[16,40,41],{},"Pray to God, sailor, but pull for the shore.",[16,43,44],{},"Mind what is preached, more than how it is preached.",[16,46,47],{},"When the world is bitter, the Word is sweet.",[16,49,50],{},"Take no advice from a person who never takes advice.",[16,52,53],{},"The right way leads to the right place.",[16,55,56],{},"Make home happy, and you will be happy at home.",[16,58,59],{},"One fact is worth a ship-load of opinions.",[16,61,62],{},"Sometimes 'tis wise to shut one's eyes.",[16,64,65],{},"Old gold, old truths, and old friends, these are treasures to the end.",[16,67,68],{},"Sow an act, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny.",[16,70,71],{},"Of course, God already gave us a book filled with wonderful proverbs. Many of them speak about growing in wisdom. Some of them talk about aging gracefully and righteously. For example: \"Gray hair is a crown of splendor; it is attained by a righteous life\" (Proverbs 16:31).",[16,73,74],{},"Some people grow older and wiser. Some merely grow older. Some, like King Ahab, grow increasingly evil and self-centered as they age. Others, like the apostle John, become more loving and tender-hearted, full of grace and truth. And some use the last season of their lives like Gideon, a flawed but faithful servant of God who the Bible says \"died at a good old age\" after his land \"enjoyed peace forty years\" (Judges 8:28, 32). Some aspects of aging aren't good, but we can truly experience \"a good old age\" if we're filled with the wisdom, peace, and power of the Lord. It's largely a matter of choice. Will we decide to remain faithful as long as we live? Will we make it our goal to finish well?",[16,76,77],{},"Another line from Spurgeon's book sums it up this way: \"Old is the boat, but it still keeps afloat.\"",{"title":79,"searchDepth":80,"depth":80,"links":81},"",2,[],"First Look","2001-09-30","The Bible says, \"Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone\" (Colossians 4:6). I thought of that verse recently when I came across a well-worn book published in 1891 by the English preacher, Charles H. Spurgeon. The book is called *The Salt-Cellars: Being a Collection of Proverbs, Together With Homely Notes Thereon*—a rather long title for a book full of short quotes!","md",null,{},3,true,"\u002Farticles\u002Fa-good-old-age","column","The Lookout",{"title":5,"description":84},"articles\u002Fa-good-old-age",[96,97,98,99],"Biblical Theology","Christian Unity","Spiritual Formation","Intergenerational Ministry","mPgC5vxJGamfqaUlLejhep2wL4CPKqDXAEb-AJjAC98",[102,107],{"title":103,"path":104,"stem":105,"description":106,"children":-1},"A First-Century Church for the Twenty-First Century","\u002Farticles\u002Fa-first-century-church-for-the-twenty-first-century","articles\u002Fa-first-century-church-for-the-twenty-first-century","In 1900, Wilbur Wright wrote a letter to a friend in which he said, \"For some years I have been afflicted with the belief that flight is possible to man.\" His commitment to flying was so all-consuming, he wrote, \"I feel that it will soon cost me an increased amount of money, if not my life.\"",{"title":108,"path":109,"stem":110,"description":111,"children":-1},"A House of Prayer","\u002Farticles\u002Fa-house-of-prayer","articles\u002Fa-house-of-prayer","In 1976 I was a young minister serving in my first church, and Faye was a widow—one of the oldest members of the congregation—but we quickly became good friends. She lived in a tiny house trailer on her son's farm. When my wife and I visited her, we paused to admire the horses in the pasture nearby before stepping into her living room where she always greeted us with a cheerful smile."]