Psalm 92:14 NLT 
'Even in old age they will still produce fruit; they will remain vital and green.'
Are we planning on being productive, as we get older? Or will we become risk-averse, building defences around us, to keep going? This can mean that we become fruitless, at that stage of life when we have accumulated a tremendous amount of knowledge about the ways of God. 
When I was growing up, we had a very fruitful Victoria plum tree in our garden. Every year we took a family holiday at the end of August, but I yearned to return home. One of the excitements was to run into the garden, and my favourite task was to gather the plums. One year, I rushed into the garden but, to my horror, there was no fruit. Had we been robbed? No. Future years revealed it had finished fruiting. Mum and Dad kept the tree, for it still blossomed, yet that blossom no longer yielded a harvest. How many of us have stories of great exploits from our past, yet no longer produce fruit? Of course our faith blossoms and we come into leaf, yet we are reduced to just an ornamental planting of the Lord. God’s intention is that we remain “vital and green”. Despite the wrinkles and the aches of ageing limbs, we should retain our usefulness and role in ushering in God’s kingdom on the earth. 
If, like me, you are in the ‘old age’ category, then it is even more essential to maintain your fruitfulness, for the joy of God’s kingdom is that we are never moved to one side, this side of death. We may face limitations, yet God cannot help but work in and through us as we obediently surrender. My prayer is that I shall never take my eyes off the Lord nor seek to retire from his active service. My creative Lord will always find ways to produce a harvest. 
QUESTION: Are you still producing a useful harvest each year? 
PRAYER: Help me to carry on being fruitful, Lord.  

Released on 3 Sep 2020