A wise, modern-day philosopher once said in a song “thirty is the new twenty”. I’ve heard people say that our age is like wine, the older we get the “finer” we are. I turned thirty a week ago and I hate these two statements. Thirty is the new twenty? Really? I get tired, cold, angry, and gain weight a lot quicker now than a decade ago. Fine wine? Mm well, I have more wrinkles, white hairs, creaky bones, and more injury prone than I was a decade ago. Wrong again. All things point to the fact that things become worse as you age. But at the end of the day, I am not depressed or hopeless, I promise! In fact, despite the physical decay of my body, on my 30th birthday, there was an extra skip to my spiritual step and hopeful expectation as I thought of the near and far future. Here is why.
A few months approaching my third decade of life, I found myself incredibly introspective. I began to analyze (probably over-analyze) everything about me. Self-awareness has always been my strength. Ask my friends, I’d be the first to admit my weaknesses. But something about this birthday made me delve even further to me studying me. At first, it was admittedly depressing. For the first time in a while, I could FEEL my age. I also recalled my hopes/dreams as an 18 year old and realized that more than half the things I wanted to accomplish were still on my to-do list. But one moment, or weekend, changed everything.
Last weekend, a few guys and I took a weekend trip to New York to celebrate my birthday. During a dinner, eight of us sat around a table at a traditional Italian restaurant in West Village and caught up on married life (or lack thereof), sports, and everything in between. As the appetizers were placed on our table, we asked the eldest of the table to bless the meal. As he prayed, tears began to well in my eyes as I looked at the faces of the men around me. These were my brothers, life-long friends whom I could call upon at any moment in times of need (as long as their kids were not sick or wives not angry with them=D). These brothers would pray for me, speak truth in love, laugh, cry, be couch potatoes…. anything with me. What I experienced at that moment was overwhelming gratitude and I knew it was the Holy Spirit. What became tangibly real at that moment is something that I often talk and preach about; it’s all about relationships. It really is, isn’t it? I believe with my whole heart that God gave us brothers and sisters in Christ, wives, husbands, children, friends, co-workers, whatever relationship you have in your life, to point to a God who is always with us and will never leave us nor forsake us. Sitting around that table, it didn’t matter how old I was or what I’ve accomplished in life. It was a gentle-whisper reminder that my Father in heaven always has my back. If these sinful man can lead me to this conclusion, how much more the promise of a perfect God to be with you and who will never fail. I pray that you have people in your life that lead you to higher, wider, and deeper praise to the Lord who is worthy of it all.
It was an amazing time that filled me with joy and hope. Just if you were wondering, I didn’t cry nor do I ever because I’m a thirty-year-old man. Now stop reading and pay attention to my sermon.
From Pastor Keeyoung’s Heart
October 11, 2015