Some things improve with age – the older they get, the better they are. I am told wine is like that. Well, you’ll be interested to know that God says the “inner man” can be like that, too.
After reminding us in 2 Corinthians 4:16 that the body falls apart with age, the Apostle Paul goes on to say, “…yet the inner man is being renewed day by day.”
The word renewed is another one of those compound words. It is the verb that means “to make new; to be new,” with the preposition “ana” prefixed to it. “Ana” means, “up or upward.” Therefore, the compound word anakainoo actually has the idea of being made new on a higher plain – in other words, “to be made better, or more complete”.
Proverbs 4:18 says, “The path of the just is like the shining light that shines more and more unto the coming day.” That’s like having life on a rheostat, getting brighter and brighter!
My mother went to be with the Lord several years ago as a result of a deteriorating condition due to many years of steroid medication for asthma. But she was a vibrant woman in spirit to the very end. Her body was old and worn out; but her spirit was young and engaging. You see, God says that the inner person can be like that, even though the out body is deteriorating and growing old. The inner man can be increasingly renewed.
Listen! Your body may not work as well as it used to, but in Christ your spirit can be strong and perennially youthful. You can truly be young at heart in the Lord if your inner man is being renewed day by day through the Spirit of God.
Hey – Eat your heart out, Ponce de Leon! We’ve found the fountain of youth. It’s in the “inner man” with the Lord!