Living in a youth centered culture today it is interesting to look at the Bible and what it has to say about being old. Old people today are usually considered unnecessary. Older people's opinions or advice is often ignored or thought to be uninformed. It is the young who have the knowledge and wisdom to guide us and inform our important decisions. The Bible has a totally opposite view of things.
With The Aged Is Wisdom
In Leviticus 19:32 we are told to honor the elderly and fear the Lord. Job 12:12 tells us that wisdom and understanding are with the old. In the New Testament, Peter tells us in I Peter 5:1-5 that the young in the church should be subject to the elders. I Timothy 5:17 explains that the ruling elders should be doubly honored.
The Wise Heed Advice
Perhaps more important even than age is the ability of someone to take advice. Proverbs 19:20 says that to grow wise we should listen to advice and accept instruction. Proverbs 12:15 says that the wise listen to advice but the fool thinks he is always right. Proverbs has much more to say about the difference between the wise and the foolish.
Rehoboam Asks For Advice
There is a story in the Bible about King Rehoboam who asked for advice (I Kings 12: 1-24). First a little about King Rehoboam. He was the son of Solomon and the first King of Judah (King of the South) after Israel split into two kingdoms. His reign lasted seventeen years. The King was approached by Jeroboam who asked that the heavy load of labor and taxes be lightened on the people of Israel. They had been heavily burdened by Rehoboam's father, Solomon, for the building of the temple in Jerusalem. It was at this point that the King asked for advice.
It was a good thing that he sought advice. This is what wise people do. But it is important to be aware of who is giving the advice and why. His older advisers counseled the king to listen to the people and lighten their burden. If he did this the people would be loyal to him. His younger advisers who he had grown up with, perhaps wanting to feed his ego, told him to threaten the people with even harsher burdens. He took the younger adviser's counsel and the result was that the people of Israel rebelled and made Jeroboam their king (King of the North).
Rehoboam's story is a good example of why it is a bad choice to surround yourself with what is referred to as "yes men". These are people who, for whatever reason, only tell you what you want to hear. Often times our companions and friends, our peers, will be more likely to agree with our decisions and less likely to challenge us when they think we are making a mistake.
God Is The Ultimate Source For Wisdom
Is older always wiser? Certainly not! Every old person we meet is not necessarily wise. Any advice we take should be from someone who loves and serves God. Who we ask is as important as how old they are. Even then God is our ultimate source for what is right for our lives. Prayer and Bible study should go with every decision we make. We also have to remain open minded when we receive advice. If we have already made up our mind what we are going to do and only pray or seek advice basically "for show" then it is pointless.
Older and Wiser
Proverbs 11:12 says that the humble person is a wise person. In the New Testament James says that if we ask for wisdom from God, He will give it to us (James 1:5). It is not so much that a person is old and that is what makes them wise, no, it is that they have learned to listen to God. They have learned humility. Our elders, practically, have learned to take advice from the One who is the Wisdom of the Ages. This is contrasted against the "wisdom of this age" that Paul refers to in I Corinthians 2:6. This is the world's wisdom. This is what Proverbs 14:12 is talking about when it says that there is a way that seems right to a man but it leads to death.
Is Pride Stopping You?
Pride, ultimately, is what often keeps us from seeking advice from older and wiser people. Pride keeps us from also seeking God's counsel on decisions we make in our lives. Too often we think we can make good decisions alone, with help from no one. We often think we are smarter, perhaps more sophisticated in worldly things, than our elders. Older, godly people have much to offer us. They have learned from God, in their mistakes and in their good decisions. Seek God first and then seek wise counsel because this is God's word to His people.
Don't let pride be the reason for bad decisions. Proverbs 16:18 reminds us of what happens to a prideful person,
"Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall."
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