day no. 12,887: the glory of young men is their strength‏

I have been thinking about and musing on the following verse lately:

Proverbs 20:29

The glory of young men is their strength,
and the splendor of old men is gray hair.

The more I work with college guys, the more I am excited about how young and strong and energetic they are AND I realize how glorious a combination a strong, teachable young man AND a wise, available older man is (not that I am a bastion of all knowledge, but I have been around the block and this isn’t my first rodeo).

This is discipleship.

I am beginning to see the Bible more illuminated to this principle that we are so vigilantly getting after at Candeo.

Young men are strong.

They either spend their energy on women and wealth or wanton behavior, but they are still strong none the less. If undisciplined, they will be lazy and neglectful. Strength is an attribute with a short shelf life and young men have it in abundance (for a season).

Stage of life, age, physical and mental deterioration all contribute to older men having less strength.

I cannot DO what a young man can. I'm limited in some respects because I’m married, physically less capable, have kids, have a regular 9-5 gig, etc…

If we can convince our strong young men to be teachable, we can field an awesome force for God’s glory.

But strong teachable young men need coaches to guide their ambition.

We need available older men who are married, have kids, have jobs, etc… to invite teachable younger men into their lives. Show them the ropes. Walk them through life, instruct and put that gray hair to some good use.

Too many young men waste their strength.
Too many older men waste their wisdom.

Proverbs 20:29 is inviting men of all ages to gather and benefit from each other.

Younger men get vision and wisdom to put those strong backs to work for good.

Older men become revitalized and refreshed in using their wisdom to oversee the Kingdom’s warriors.

It’s a good life this discipleship.

So whether you are young or old, leverage your strength whether it be circumstantial, physical, intellectual, etc… for the benefits of other men so that God’s church may have leadership and lending hands to accomplish as much as we can before we check out after clearing the finish line leading with our chests.