For most of my life the idea of  retirement was like a mirage shimmering on the horizon. With each passing year, what was once a flicker in my peripheral vision began to take on greater substance and come more clearly into focus.

Now that I see it looming on the horizon, I am forced to inspect its contours and consider what my life will be like when I am no longer bound by deadlines and office hours.

Looking at the retirement years of friends and family, trying to find some role models to guide me, I discovered that those who considered “retirement” as a euphemism for “no longer valuable”, or “time to do nothing” tended to find their lives diminishing both in quality and quantity.

People who looked upon retirement as an opportunity for new adventures and the freedom to help others continued to grow and enrich themselves and those around them. That is the model I hope to emulate when the time comes for me.

All this thinking about retirement led me to consider ways of honoring God in the retirement years, and resulted in my conclusion that Christianity has no retirement plan this side of Heaven.

When our work on earth is done, God simply takes us home for the final adventure. That leads to the inevitable truth that, for believers, if we are still on earth we are still on the job and we have not completed the tasks God has assigned.

If you are uncertain about what is still on your “To Do” list, you can find a copy in the book of Matthew:

Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like to it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

We all share this same assignment.  Each individual’s task is equally important to God’s plan. He supplies every member of his team with custom-designed tools and unique opportunities to carry out our mission.

No matter your age, as a Christian, you are still in the active labor force.

You’ll have to excuse me now, I’ve got work to do…don’t you?