Do you get excited seeing all the candles on your birthday cake? Or, do the growing number of candles feel more like a combustible reminder that you aren’t as young as you once were?

Are you feeling old? Less purposeful?

Several years ago, I read a Bible verse that helps me see my life in a different light as I deal with the issues of getting older. Deuteronomy 30:20 (ESV) keeps me on track to finish well. “[Love] the Lord your God, [obey] his voice and [hold] fast to him, for he is your life and length of days.” These five words especially caught my attention: “for he is your life.”

When I consider everything this short phrase could mean for me personally, a stirring desire grows in my soul: to live as if God Himself (the Creator of the universe, the King of kings) is my purpose for living.

Recently, I had another birthday. Like you, I sometimes mourn for the days when I felt more energetic, more vibrant. But if I lived as if my heavenly Father was my life, not my desperate need to one-up the Joneses, He would become the center of all my dreams and goals. If I allow God to teach me how to make these desires real in my life, I can only imagine how much I’ll have to celebrate by my next birthday.

What about you? As you age, do you find it hard to believe God still has plans for you? Do you wonder if He still has a purpose for your life? How differently would you celebrate your next birthday if, for the remaining months leading up to your special day, you lived as if God was the center of your life? How different would your perspective be about each day God gives you?

I pray we’ll all be encouraged by Deuteronomy 30:20 so much that we can encourage others who are struggling with getting older. As we model what it looks like to hold fast to God, others will see His faithfulness and goodness in our lives, no matter how many candles we have on our cake.

Are you getting excited about living fully for God, especially as we enter the Christmas season?

Let’s ask God to help us to love, obey and trust Him and to celebrate life because … He is our life.

Sheryl H. Boldt is a faith columnist and the author of the blog www.TodayCanBeDifferent.net. You can reach her at SherylHBoldt@gmail.com.