God At WorkSample

Retire From Your Job, Not From Work 

Retirement is a recent phenomenon. But today, many young people dream of early retirement. They would love to enjoy their retirement money on themselves for the rest of their lives. But we will be wasting our lives if we live just for ourselves. Our lives will eventually become meaningless and purposeless.

Numbers 8:23-26 is the only passage in the Bible that refers to retirement and it’s a specific instruction to the Levites. So, this passage doesn’t apply to all people. However, note that even after retirement, the Levites were required to “minister to their brothers in the tent of meeting by keeping guard.” They are not supposed to just relax and do nothing. 

Also, many of the Godly people mentioned in the Bible worked till their final days on earth. Like them, we must strive to serve God and His people until the very end. Even those who are retired can mentor others in their field of expertise. They can spend much time praying for fellow believers and lost people. They can sign up for some ministry in their local church and serve the Lord passionately. They can be involved in sharing God’s goodness with the next generation: “So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim Your might to another generation, Your power to all those to come” (Ps. 71:18). Oh, how this world needs Godly men and women who will faithfully pass on their faith to the next generation! 

Our labor for the Lord, even after retirement, will not be in vain. Apostle Paul writes, “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Cor. 15:58). I’m reminded of my dad who served the Lord actively even in his post-retirement days. One of the best things he did after his retirement was to plant a church. As a result of his efforts, fifteen years later, that church is a blessing to many people! So, retire from your job, but not from work. Our labor for the Lord will never go vain!