You can still bear fruit, even when you are old!

“The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green.” (Psalms 92:12-14 ESV)

Surprising and unexpected!

I heard a camp director give a talk about the kind of themed camps he puts on these days. No longer are camps just for kids but they are now for families, singles, men, women, and even for older people. They try to do something surprising and unexpected for every camp they do utilizing fun themes. This process has sometimes proven to be surprising and educational.

Back in time

Recently he did a camp for older folks and decided to spice things up by taking them "20 years back in time." When people showed up to camp they were surprised to find doctors there giving physical examinations as a part of the registration process. Physicians weighed people, gave them eye examinations, took their blood pressures, tested their reflexes, and measured their attention spans. And then declared them to be 20 years younger. All in the spirit of fun as a part of the “Back 20 Years In Time” theme. They gave everyone name tags and wrote their ages next to their names, only they reduced the ages on the tags by 20 years! If the person was age 70 they wrote age 50 on their name tag. Then they told everybody there were two rules for the two week long camp. First, they were to behave like the age written on their tags, and secondly, they were to treat others like the age written on their tags.

Here’s what happened

Over the next few days, people who had come with canes stopped using them and even stopped limping! People walked straighter, acted more energetic and completely stopped talking about illnesses and pains. 

The entire group stopped behaving like old people!

On the last day of the camp the doctors gave everyone followup physicals and found that most people had improved mentally and physically, many dramatically. Even their attention spans, reflexes, and eyesight had improved, much to the amazement of those administering the tests! Doctors scratched their heads and couldn't explain the remarkable transformation other than to say, “When people began to think of themselves as 20 years younger, that profoundly affected how they behaved and then how they felt; the process somehow had actually transformed them!” Amazing!

Changing the way you think is powerful!

“For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” (Prov. 23:7 NKJV)

“He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.” (Isa. 40:29 ESV)

“Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.” (Eccl. 7:10 ESV)

“Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated.” (Deut. 34:7 ESV)

“With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.” (Psalm 91:16 ESV)