Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. (2 Cor. 4:16).
Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon went looking for the fountain of youth, according to the legend, in 1513 when he visited what is now Florida. The explorer himself never wrote about the fountain, but others wrote about his supposed exploits.
According to the legend, anyone who drank from the fountain of youth would experience a restoration of youth. No one has ever actually found such a spring of restorative waters, of course. It just makes interesting speculation.
Here is something that is not speculation: You and I are getting older every day. Not to be morbid, but we aren’t as young as we used to be. Evidence abounds as we grow older. Gray hair, wrinkles, and failing eyesight are only a few of the symptoms.
You can try to defy the aging process, but it’s only a matter of time. The last time I checked, the death rate is still 100 percent.
Here’s the good news: You can be renewed day by day. Paul found the secret. It was not in a fountain of youth. It was not in some restorative spring or restorative cosmetics, although the ancients did use beauty treatments (see Est. 2:12). Paul found it in his relationship with Christ. He learned to fix his eyes on the eternal, which gave him (and us) an entirely different perspective.
Be renewed by living with eternal values in view.
Ron McClung works at his denomination’s world headquarters and lives in Fishers, Indiana, with his wife, Carol. They have two sons and nine grandchildren.
