Joshua 13:1 –
When Joshua was an old man, the LORD said to him, “You are growing old, and much land remains to be conquered.”
After listing all Joshua’s successes in the previous chapter, God reminded him of the work still needed to be done. Did you notice the comment of Joshua being “an old man”? As I get older and “retirement” is closer to my future, I read this with a different perspective. God is never really done with us, and our “work is never complete. There will always be more people to talk with, more jobs to finish, more lands to conquer and more people to serve. We have this myth that retirement comes with benefits after the age of 65. Moses died an old man who led his people right to the edge of the Promised Land and then died.
For some reason we get this idea that work stops as you get older. I say just the opposite, work continues until you die. Sure we think it would be nice to live in a paid home and a have a full salary coming in, but I don’t think that’s what God intended. If anything retirement means you’re just not working your original “job” and are still working on the kingdom. That’s what Moses and Joshua have done. Personally I would rather be working my fanny off and just wear out, then slowly die in a nursing home.
Unfortunately for Joshua he does not finish the job and it takes some 400 years before Israel is under a “king” and the job is finished. Now we can relate this in a way to Jesus being our king. We are not complete until our King Jesus has fulfilled our “kingdom”. I know it’s a stretch, but seemed like an analogy that could be pulled. Let’s just not wait 400 years to finish our job with God.