Many elderly people tell us “I wish I had taken more risks; if only I wasn’t so afraid.” Why do they speak that way? Some specialist says it is because with age mature people become more self-confident with who they really are. We have a dreadful tendency to stay in one place or keep doing one activity longer than we should. Life is short, we cannot postpone continuously, occasions will slip away. Change can be refreshing. But change brings many decisions, difficult and frustrating moments that can often keep us from moving forward. We become comfortable where we are, and we fear the unknown.

One day God said to Moses, “You’ve stayed long enough at this mountain. On your way now. Get moving” (Dt 1:6–7). Moses’ new path would be far from easy. He was going to enter inhospitable land. He was about to risk the lives of everyone with him. At 120 years old, he wasn’t a young man any longer. Excuses could come easily.

In his book Connect the Testaments A Daily Devotional, John D. Barry says “We’re all on our way to dying. But as Christians, we’re also on our way to eternal life. Why should we limit God’s work with our fear? And then there’s the most significant problem of all: we ignore God’s command to leave a place, position, or role”1 .

What is God calling you to do now? What comforts is He calling you to leave behind? What have you been ignoring? “You’ve stayed long enough… on your way now. Get moving” (Deut 1:6–7).

1. John D. Barry and Rebecca Kruyswijk, Connect the Testaments: A Daily Devotional (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2012).