For many people, old age seems a cruel experience. Worry and fears tend to increase rather than subside, and even if there is no lack of earthly possessions the specters of failing health, bodily suffering, loneliness and uncertainty about the future harass their souls. And if they are living a life "having no hope and without God in the world" (Ephesians 2:12), their situation is even more dismal.

Old age does not need to be like that. God never intended that His children should come to the end of life beset with all sorts of anxieties. As far back as in the days of the prophet Isaiah, God gave the assurance that "even to your old age I am He; and even to hoar hairs will I carry you … and will deliver you" (Isaiah 46:4). That does not mean we are free from trials and suffering, but it makes all the difference in the world to know that God is with us, that He watches over us and gives us strength and courage to meet each day's problems.

Of all the seasons of the year, perhaps there is none so beautiful, so fascinating and so rewarding as the bright, nippy fall. After the heat of summer is past and the forests are mantled in amber and crimson, "God weaves around the weather-beaten brow of the year the golden crown of autumn"! So, too, the Lord has designed old age to be the autumn of life—the gentlest, the tenderest, the most lovely of all the days of sojourn here on earth for the believer in Jesus.

Once an elderly man and his aged wife were very ill. Neither of them could expect to get well. One was upstairs, while the other was in a downstairs bedroom. their children thoughtfully decided to take their mother up to call on their father before both of them were obliged to say their final good-byes here on earth. Making a chair of their hands, two of the stronger ones managed to bring her to his room. Then they left them alone. You can imagine how they felt—their father and mother together for perhaps the last time on earth! After the two had visited for a while, the children came back again. Stepping into the room they saw their father sitting there in his old armchair, as he had done so many times before, while their mother leaned over him and smiled down upon him. The faces of the two were shining. The mother was speaking in a low, musical tone, saying, "It's getting brighter and brighter, John! Why, it will not be long and you and I will both be in the sunlight of Glory"! The children thought it would be a hard time for them, and that they would be talking about their sickness and death; instead, they were rejoicing in the happy prospect of soon being with Jesus! If we live for the Saviour, the autumn time of life can be a thing of beauty in testimony and service and upward-looking faith.

—Sel.