Most of us simply assume that we have a right to retire from work and spend the rest of our lives doing whatever we want. While the idea of a long holiday sounds wonderful, this ideal picture is not the whole truth. Retirement often brings relationship challenges, health problems, and crises of purpose and motivation; it is not the paradise we have been promised.
God’s word never encourages us to take an extended holiday towards the end of our lives; retirement is not a Biblical idea. The Bible is, however, very helpful for us as we prepare for our later years. God speaks to us through his Word about important issues like purpose, death and identity that make sense of the struggles many retirees face.
Older Christians should live in a very different way to those who don’t trust Jesus. The Bible is full of teaching about age and maturity, while also furnishing us with a range of helpful and unhelpful examples of older believers who have gone before us. God’s word also helps us think rightly about health limitations, nostalgia, and money, issues all retirees will face.
Christian retirees should be a great resource for the local church and a blessing to the communities that they live in. There are all kinds of opportunities for mentoring, encouragement, leadership, and evangelism. This book aims to give Christians a Biblical vision for how our later years might be used to serve Jesus.