“The purpose in a man’s heart is like a deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out.” (Proverbs 20:5) As with every generation, many times we fail to seek the wisdom of the older generation. We are too busy trying to make a living, that we fail to live. It is easy in our busy activities to forget to gain the knowledge from the older generation about what is important in life. Those who are getting close to the sunset of life have a perspective that is both real, honest, and sobering, especially if they serve the true rock of salvation—Jesus Christ.
You’ll find two types of older people. Those who think they know everything and want you to think they know it too. Therefore, they continually offer their ‘words of wisdom’ and want you to be as impressed with their knowledge as they are with the sound of their own voice. Then, there are those who know many things but speak few unsolicited words. They are glad to share but they realize that only genuine questioners will appreciate their experience and they do not desire to waste their wisdom with group pontification.
Fools never lack for an opinion and their conversation is a constant drip-from-the-lip tirade of self glory and ignorance. Wise men command an audience, not by force but through humility, and their words are wrapped in experience, grace, truth and sound reason. Pearls of wisdom do not come from unexamined lives but from the insight gained through the trials in life.
In the older generation, we can find those who have tasted the pain of losing a loved one and have come through with the grace of heaven. We can find those who have lost the strength of their youth but discovered the strength that only comes for knowing Jesus Christ. Also, we can find mothers whose hands no longer rock the children of their youth, but they have the heart of God that understands the true value of motherhood and the beauty of being a grand parent. Their experiences are rubies of wisdom to those who will ask.
Dying men usually don’t lie. It is true we are all dying, but the older Christian generation understands it as the thoughts of mortality rises to meet them every morning, not in gloom or dread, but in the reality of life’s brevity. Wisdom avails in every community, and we can reap the joys of its fruit if we will take the time to ask. Find those of the older generation who know and walk with Christ. Ask them about their life and their decisions—both good and bad. Ask them about what they feel is eternally important. If you do not die young, one day you will be a participating member of the older generation. There is a lot we can learn if we begin to gain wisdom by asking those who are older and take time to … Visit the Well!
