The Old Man on the Porch

In my childhood days, an elderly man named Mr. Gill lived across the road from my home. Daily, he sat on the porch of his house with a cane in his hand. From his location on the corner of a busy residential intersection, he watched people come and go up and down the road. Yet what he enjoyed the most was watching my brother and me as we were doing all kinds of chores. We were usually busy cutting the grass, trimming the hedge, raking leaves, washing cars, or painting the house. He watched us closely, longing to be up and about doing all these things that he once was able to do.

Sometimes, cane in hand, he would push his mower on his lawn with a halting gait and a sweaty grin. He loved for us to take a break and go over to sit with him on his porch for a while and share a cold drink. He often had a story to tell us. Being confined to his porch and slowed by the weight of his decades did not limit his mind or his desire to do those daily tasks required to care for life and limb. He did what he could for as long as he was able. He seemed to relive a bit of his youth watching and interacting with us as young neighbor boys.

These are sweet memories, with some regrets, as I consider the moments that life presents. As we do routine chores, we often fail to appreciate our full life with busy days. Old Mr. Gill missed being able to do those things for himself but relished watching us doing them, though we often grumbled and complained.

What can we learn from my aged neighbor’s example? We should be motivated to be up and doing while we have the time, energy, and opportunity—not only doing mundane activities but also being diligent in putting into practice important life principles. The Bible, God’s handbook for humanity, gives instruction on what our priorities should be. As we busily provide for our many time-consuming physical needs, Jesus instructed us to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things [our physical needs] will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). Once we realize what our priorities should be, implementing this godly way of life is required. James, one of Jesus’ half-brothers, put it this way: “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin” (James 4:17). Talk is cheap, and lip service doesn’t cut it with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Jesus said in Luke 6:46, “But why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’ and not do the things which I say?”

As human beings, we have a limited opportunity in this life to “fear God and keep His commandments” (Ecclesiastes 12:13). Jesus faced this fact and commented on it, saying, “I must work the works of Him who sent me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work” (John 9:4). In the Parable of the Sower, found in Matthew 13, Jesus said that the person who “received the seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful” (v. 22). As free moral agents we have the responsibility to make choices in this life, and those choices will result in benefits or difficulties.

In quiet moments, I sometimes think of those times of long ago. Time is relentless and change is constant. Mr. Gill rests in his grave, and my brother is gone. That busy street corner where we grew up has been developed commercially. Our old home is now a real estate sales office.

Even if we are privileged to live to a great age, life seems to unfold quickly. How will you use the time that you have? Will you follow biblical instructions in your life, or will you become like the old man on the porch who regrets things left undone?

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