Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. (Hebrews 12:1, niv)

Frank retired before age sixty. He could have lived comfortably in his home state up north or Florida, a place he and his wife often visited on vacation. Instead, they took jobs in Asia. Not easy jobs either. Frank had to learn a whole new line of work, from the ground up. His wife stayed in medicine, but under conditions that produced much more stress than her position in the states. And all this in a strange new culture far from home and family. When asked (challenged, really) with "Why?!" they responded: "We want to finish well." What they wanted to finish was a life of service to God.

Sharon is another "finisher." She took her thirty-five years of English teaching skills and experience, at age sixty-two, to Mongolia.

You don't have to go to another continent to finish well, but you do have to get a different view of retirement in mind and heart. God wants our whole life to be focused on service for him, not on our personal comfort and pleasure. Aging brings some limitations, but also continuing opportunities to keep running strong, using our gifts for kingdom work. Retirement should mean "different service," not "no service."

Prayer: Jesus, enable me to serve you all my days, with whatever strength you supply. Amen.

Used with Permission