Age Appreciation

While waiting to pick Gavin up from school,  I shared my daily devotional with Ryan.  The verse read:

"Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained by living a godly life."  Proverbs 16:31

The commentary afterward suggested we should not be discouraged by gray hair even when we're surrounded by a culture that values youth.  Rather than be ashamed of our age, we should take pride in our years, as wisdom often comes with age.  After hearing Ryan's take on this, I would disagree with that last part of the commentary.  While wisdom comes with experience, and thus, age, I would argue that, in many cases, children are far wiser than adults given their innocence and that they have yet to be tainted by the world's views.

To illustrate, later in the afternoon we were driving to a friend's house to surprise her with a birthday cake.  Ryan asked me how old she was.  I explained that grown ups don't like to share their age.  Confused, he asked why.  I told him that some adults are embarrassed by their age and don't like others to know how old they are.  They want others to think they're younger than they actually are.  Ryan wisely replied, "that's silly, there's no reason to be embarrassed by your age.  God made us be born when he wanted us to be born.  Remember the Bible verse from earlier, Mom.  God tells us not to be ashamed of our age."  Touché.  (He also added, "Then I hope Daddy won't be mad, because I told my teachers that he was 35!")

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Although today's devotional discourages us from valuing youth, I'd like to offer another interpretation.  We should not long for a youthful appearance, but we should strive for a more innocent, childlike perspective because I think Ryan had it right on this one!