At the start of another year, remember that you were made for more than trivial pursuits. There’s nothing wrong with New Year’s resolutions, but remember: You will never find ultimate satisfaction in people, possessions, or pursuits. Solomon said that striving after the things of this world is like striving after the wind (Eccl. 2:11). There’s no profit in it. What we’re really hungering for can only be found in Christ. The longing we experience can only be satisfied if we strive after Jesus. 

Did you make it past Quitter’s Day this year?
By the second Friday of January, most people have thrown in the towel. That’s 14 days max. Many don’t even last that long, but within a fortnight it’s all over for the bulk of them. The majority has completely given up. They quit. Two weeks is the most they can endure. It’s all the holding power their New Year’s resolutions have over them.
But why? Why do our best efforts falter so quickly? Why do so many of us just give up? Why can’t we consistently keep the virtuous promises we make to ourselves? Because there’s a flaw that keeps us from pressing on to do what we know is good for us. That’s why.
History shows that despite all our best efforts and all humanity’s grand achievements, we still hunger for a significance that remains out of our reach. Even when you don’t quit, even when you keep all your resolutions, you will never be able to satisfy the hunger at the center of your own story by your own efforts. Simply put, you are not enough for you.
This is why every New Year we revisit our commitments to gym workouts, diets, Bible reading plans, etc. It’s a second chance at fulfilling the longings of our soul left unsatisfied from another year gone.
These promises and pursuits stem from an internal longing for something more. You and I long for a new beginning—a second birth, of sorts—because we know there’s so much more for us than life on this earth gives. To C.S. Lewis, this longing was a clue to the meaning of life. “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy,” he said, “the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”
The longing we experience points us beyond ourselves. There is a yearning in our hearts for something we can never reach on our own, though we try.
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Perhaps you are convinced that those who are older or who have health issues should be active in serving God, but you find it hard to picture what that looks like. After all, you might not be able to preach or lead a congregation or head to the mission field. If age and health issues are limiting factors for you, what might your service of Jesus look like?

God loves to use the weak to shame the strong
It is a natural thing for us to honour those who are strong and young. Olympic athletes grace the covers of magazines, and younger people advertise beauty products. Even in the church, often it is the university student ministry that is prioritised as ‘strategic’, while ministry to older believers or those with disabilities can be overlooked.
God doesn’t value strength the way that we do. In fact, God seems to love using those who are weak for his purposes. We see this all through Scripture. God chose Moses to lead his people out of Egypt, even though he couldn’t speak well and didn’t want to do it. Jesus chose a ragtag group of men to be his disciples, impetuous men like Peter who were fishermen instead of scholars or aristocrats. Many of the people remembered as having great faith in the gospels are foreigners, women, prostitutes, disabled, or poor.
We might honour the apostle Paul for his tightly reasoned letters in the New Testament, but he was derided for not being very impressive in person[i] and he struggled with a “thorn” problem his whole life. When he asked God to remove this “thorn”, God’s answer was:
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)[ii]
In the end, Paul realised it was good for him to have his limitations. His problem, whatever it was, was an ongoing struggle that kept him from becoming conceited. God used someone with significant struggles in his life so powerfully to make it clear that the power came from God and not from Paul. In fact, Paul could conclude that it was when he was weak that he was actually strong. He came to depend on God in his hard times instead of himself.
Paul explained God’s use of the weak over the strong in another place:
26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. (1 Corinthians 1:26-29)
Do you see how freeing Paul’s point is here? You don’t need to be an impressive strong young person to be used by God. God loves to use people who are weak in the eyes of the world for his purposes. You might be incredibly useful to God, not because of your innate abilities, but because people can see the grace of God working through someone like you. There are few things more encouraging to younger believers than to see older saints who struggle with their health remaining faithful as servants of the Lord Jesus.
But what could I possibly do to serve God in my situation?
Perhaps you are convinced that those who are older or who have health issues should be active in serving God, but you find it hard to picture what that looks like. After all, you might not be able to preach or lead a congregation or head to the mission field. If age and health issues are limiting factors for you, what might your service of Jesus look like?
There are examples all around us in our churches if only we would look. Many older people in churches I have been part of have been incredibly faithful in prayer. Even if you have some limitation that means you cannot leave your house, you can pray. Perhaps God has given you the great opportunity to spend more time in prayer than you ever have before! Don’t focus on your limitations; think about your opportunities to serve. A focus on prayer will change you as well as you present your requests to God, reminding you that even in your time of challenge, your Father hears you.
Several retirees I have known have used their extra time and resources well by showing hospitality to others in the church. Inviting others over for meals is a dying tradition for many struggling to balance busy careers with their home lives. Opening your house to others, or taking them with you to a restaurant, can be a great way to show love to other people and encourage them.
With age comes experience and wisdom. Oh yes, I know that even older believers who have been in the church for decades still feel their lack of understanding! But the reality is that if you are older, you most likely have a more robust Bible knowledge and experience of living out your faith than many younger people. Consider how you might use those talents. You could meet regularly with new Christians to read the Bible with them. You could take the opportunity to serve as a Bible study leader or visit others. You can phone people or use email to encourage others. Even with limited energy, there are so many ways you could use what God has given you to benefit others.
If you find yourself with a more severe disability or limitation, even then you can see your situation as an opportunity for service. I have known many Christians with severe disability and chronic diseases to be a magnificent witness to the health staff and doctors who cared for them. If you have carers come to your house to help you with everyday tasks, the way you treat them and interact with them can shine the light of the gospel into their lives. Never underestimate the influence a faithful believer can have on the world around them simply by living a joyful, faithful life in difficult circumstances.
Simon van Bruchem is a Teaching Elder at All Nations Presbyterian Church in Perth, Western Australia, where he has served since 2007.
This is an excerpt from Distinctively Christian Retirement: A Biblical call to serve Jesus well in older age. You can find out more about the book at www.writtenforourinstruction.com/distinctively-christian-retirement/. You can purchase the ebook from Amazon here, Kobo, Apple Books, or anywhere ebooks are sold. The print book is available in many places including Book Depository and Amazon. The audiobook is available at Audible here and soon in many other places as well.

[i] In 2 Corinthians 11:6 Paul admits he is unskilled in speaking, and 2 Corinthians 10:1 implies he is accused of being bold only in his writing and yet humble in person.
[ii] Unless specified, all Bible references are from the ESV Bible (Holy Bible English Standard Version), copyright ©2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

We are told to “follow the science”. What we have witnessed far too often over the past four years is “follow the money”. Be it corrupt politicians, Big Pharma, medicos with vested interests, or globalist bodies seeking to control us all, we have seen how quickly and easily science and medicine can be corrupted and hijacked for nefarious ends.

Some of us were quite sceptical of what was being done to us in the name of Covid from very early on in the piece. Things did not seem to add up, and the hysterical media alarmism, coupled with Statist overkill via lockdowns and all the rest certainly made us wonder.
And many of us wondered out loud. We got absolutely hammered and hated on for daring to ask hard questions and query the official narrative. For simply expressing our concerns we were turned into despised pariahs and treated as the scum of the earth.
Yet increasingly we are being vindicated. Barely a day goes by when we do not learn even more about just how wrong so much of the “science” was, how dictatorial and totalitarian our governments were, and how much medical fascism was allowed to take place. Simply considering all the injuries and deaths so far with rushed and improperly tested medicines should wake us up.
All this, coupled with the clearly stated aims of individuals and groups like Schwab, Harari, Gates, the World Economic Forum and the Great Reset mob, makes it clear that we whistle-blowers and questioners were absolutely right to stick our necks out and dare to look closer at what was – and is – happening.
There are now innumerable articles and videos and plenty of books on all this. Last year I offered this list of titles.
Four recent articles that have appeared on these matters are worth drawing your attention to. The first one speaks about slodderwetenschap (the Dutch term for ‘sloppy science’). The authors say this especially occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic:
We had front-row seats to witness the media reporting claims of a breakthrough made one day, then dismissed the next. It’s one of the first occasions the public has been able to clearly see how messy the scientific process can be – when it’s done sloppily.
One of the more public facets in the swirling whirl of COVID-19 misinformation was the continuing role of Dr Anthony Fauci, the Chief Medical Officer to the President of the USA. Fauci insisted that his pronouncements of the moment, such as suggesting it would only take 15 days to slow the spread of the virus or that masks were ‘unnecessary’, were ‘science’ and as such not to be questioned. Yet, the main method of science is to question. Fauci was abusing his claims of expertise and in the process helping to erode the public’s trust in science itself.
The researchers argue that one of the drivers of sloppy science is that people find it hard to accept results that are a work in progress; they much prefer the neatness and superficial completeness that often comes with incorrect work. It can mean that shortcuts are taken – and alternatives are ignored because they cause disruption.
Results that are desired are often declared correct due to political and financial pressures or even fears. This culture involves accepting storylines that are presented without further examination (eg, Fauci’s ‘I am Science’). Naïve acceptance can cause real harm – especially when the initial claims need to be qualified or are disproved. What arose during the COVID-19 pandemic was the increasing proliferation of unsound science, which meant policy leaders – misled by misinformation – made terrible decisions with devastating ramifications. The debate about the longevity of lockdowns as a means of dealing with COVID-19 and the seemingly deliberate suppression of the role of natural immunity post-infection stand out as two prominent examples.
They close their piece by outlining seven critical mistakes where sloppy science can creep into the scientific process:
1. Jumping straight into giving explanations for unexpected observations. The impulse to be the first to obtain results makes shortcuts tempting.2. Disregarding variables that could be of importance to the research. Selecting suitable variables is critical for good science – it’s a process that should not be rushed.3. Not correctly considering the context of the experiment. For example, how the research relates to the real world.4. Inflexible modelling. For example, only using a single model instead of an open-ended model to determine outcomes.5. Making bad sampling assertions. Like applying statistical functions across populations as a whole – when they may only apply to specific subsets.6. The overuse of labelling and categorisation.
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