Devotion Reflection – Is growing old equal weakness? (1 King 1:1-4)

It’s quite a long time I share devotion reflection. So this is one for the new year.

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Bible Passage:

1 When King David was very old, he could not keep warm even when they put covers over him. ² So his attendants said to him, “Let us look for a young virgin to serve the king and take care of him. She can lie beside him so that our lord the king may keep warm.”

³ Then they searched throughout Israel for a beautiful young woman and found Abishag, a Shunammite, and brought her to the king. ⁴ The woman was very beautiful; she took care of the king and waited on him, but the king had no sexual relations with her

A giant killer, David the Goliath slayer now at 70 years old is weak and impotence, the exact opposite of the warrior David and women seeker in his younger days that we know him as. Is old age a problem? Is his sin of murder and adultery still weaken him spiritually? Is the family fighting and brokenness taken toil on him physically? Yes, it is a combination of all these. Here lie the great lesson, be like Caleb and Moses, the older they get, the stronger and more spiritual they are!

The palace court wanted to test David vitality. And so, offer him a virgin of immense beauty. Yet, David could not perform. What a let down. Only the men will understand this passage. Only the generals and court official will know what to do next. [that will be the next devotion reflection as we read the subsequent verses in 1 Kings 1]

Old does not mean weaker …

These days, I seem to pay more attention to old people around me. Seeing the way they walk and do things, I am now more conscious of myself. Hitting 58 years old soon, my new year resolution is “Be stronger than last year!”. And so, on Boxing Day, 26 Dec 2016, I finally decided to buy some weights and training equipment: (1) a 10kg adjustable dumbbell; (2) a skipping rope and (3) a rubber band.

Vigorous Exercises

For many years now, I am still with hypertension. My blood pressure is 150/89. Jogging and marathons has never helped. More vigorous exercises are needed, I presume. Right on the first day of New Year, my training starts. I discovered that skipping is the best form of exercise. I started with skipping 60 times, then 80 times , 100 times and recently, 100 times twice with a short rest at interval. Just after skipping a few days, the tight strain on my chest has disappeared. I no longer feel giddy and tired during the days. Good to do skipping rather than jogging.

Healthy Drinking / eating

I started to drink Green Tea again.  I use to see a lot of bubble on my urine. This happened frequently for a long time. It could be a sign of kidney problem. I suspect that this is due to the nuts and oat meal that I ate often. Its kind of protein related issue. After drinking Green Tea for the whole day, I find that there is no more bubble in the urine. Since then, I have been drinking Green Tea and see no more bubble on my urine. To prove that the bubble is caused by the urine, I took a lot of almonds for a day. Then, I saw quite a big amount of bubble on my urine again. So, I need to control the intake of protein related food. [wrong assumption to think that protein is good for the body, but can actually create other problem].

  

Age is no reason to be weak.

We should be like Caleb, who said:

¹⁰ “Now then, just as the Lord promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the wilderness. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! ¹¹ I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. (Joshua 14:10-11)

 I am still learning to live healthily and “Be stronger than last year!”

 Agape