Welcome to the House of Hope, I’m Pastor Dewey Moede…
The late Dr. W. Stanley Jones, who served the Lord as a missionary in India, wrote: “In old age… blossom at the end like a night-blooming cereus.” This is a plant from the family of flowering cacti. It brings beauty to the desert when it opens up at nightfall. Some say these plants produce fruit large enough for people to consume.
Dr. Jones certainly knew something about blossoming and producing fruit. He made a profound impact on all those around him because of his extraordinary faith and service to others. Later in life his work was acknowledged by Franklin D. Roosevelt and Mahatma Gandhi. In spite of a stroke at age 87 that disabled him and impaired his speech, he addressed a world congress in Jerusalem from his wheelchair shortly before he died.
At every age of life, we can produce fruit that replenishes others. No matter the age, no one need miss the change to impact the younger generations by exemplifying reliance on Him and hope in His unchanging promises.
The Bible is our best source for encouragement: “Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58).