Retirement 2: Planning of Finances, Purpose & HealthSample

Retirement: What is it?

To understand how we might live out our retirement years, we look to the Bible to see what God intends. Let’s start with a verse relating to your working life, and you’ve likely heard this one before:

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. – Colossians 3:23-24

The Bible never actually speaks about retirement as we know it today. So this verse about working as for the Lord applies equally to whether we are paid to go to a job or volunteering with a goodwill group.

From the retirement perspective, check the opening phrase of this verse: “Whatever you do…” This verse applies to anything we do, whether in a paid job or not.

There are also other verses re-emphasizing our purpose as humans, created in God’s image and for His glory, like this one from the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians:

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. – 1 Corinthians 10:31

To help us understand this idea, Jesus also talked about HOW we might glorify God:

You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. – Matthew 5:14-16

As we do good works, whatever they might be, others will see these good deeds and glorify God.

That’s it! So simple it is, whether we are still working or retired. Our life is meant to glorify God. We glorify God most practically (and most easily) by being His hands and feet here on earth as we do good works.

In modern-day retirement, we are set free from the alarm clock and the routine of going to work every day. Instead, we are now free to do what we want, where we want and when we want. Contrary to popular thinking, this does not mean that we should get busy on a “bucket list” for our own satisfaction or build our own little paradise on earth.

Instead, retirement for you as a Christ-follower means that you should intentionally seek out what God has for you to do. This means looking for the good deeds that God already has planned for you – good deeds that bring you joy and glorify God. And, by doing so, you will build up treasure in heaven!

Take time today to reflect on how you might bring glory to God in your retirement, and be blessed as you go forth to bless others!

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P.S. if you haven’t read our first reading plan on retirement, go back and search for Retirement: Insights from the Bible.