Rabbi Jonathan Sacks was making his usual rounds at a local senior citizen home, when he had the amazing opportunity to call on a 104-year-old woman named Florence. Although the oldest resident in her facility by far, she didn’t look it. She was bright, eager, and full of life. Her vitality intrigued Rabbi Sacks, so he asked Florence, “What’s the secret to your eternal youth?” Her reply was simply: “Never be afraid to learn something new.”
In the 21st Century, learning something new isn’t just a quaint afternoon exercise. In our hyper-tech world, information is growing exponentially. According to numerous sources, experts believe that information doubles every 12 hours. That’s not a type-o. It’s not 12 years or months. It’s every 12 hours! After eating breakfast each day, your knowledge is lagging far behind by the time you eat dinner.
As Christians, however, we know that knowledge is quite different from wisdom. There are a lot of facts and data that you can live without, but conversely, there are timeless truths that are absolutely essential for life. Wisdom goes beyond googling information. True wisdom comes from learning God’s Word and applying it to our everyday lives. With all the challenges we are currently experiencing, godly wisdom is needed now more than ever.
The Book of Proverbs begins: “Let the wise hear and increase in learning… The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” (Proverbs 1:5,7) The knowledge revealed in the Holy Scriptures points us to God: who He is, what He has done, and how He wants us to live. So it is in Scripture that true wisdom is found. “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.” (Psalm 19:7)
If you want to stay young at heart (and if the young want their heart to stay), then we are called to a life-long exploration of God’s Word and the treasure of His testimonies. Too often, long-time Christians can fool themselves into thinking that they don’t have any more to learn. They might listen to a sermon, but they don’t feel the need for any further study of the Scriptures. For others, both young and old, we can become too easily distracted by our screens. We might be open to learning from God’s Word, but we never quite get around to it. The lure of the next video or blog or reality TV show are too quick to grab our attention.
Perhaps Moses can serve as an inspiration for us. When he was 120 years old, he sat the Israelites down to teach them God’s Word. His words are recorded for us in the Book of Deuteronomy. Moses, who had seen God and led the Israelites out of Egypt, stayed immersed in the wisdom of the Lord to his dying day. It comes as no surprise, then, that even in his old age, “his eyes were undimmed and his vigor unabated.” (Deuteronomy 34:7) Moses knew the secret of staying young: he was never afraid to learn something new. Will you follow his example?