Ezekiel 33: 21-33, Ezekiel 34-35, James 2, Proverbs 16: 28-33, Proverbs 17: 1-4
Proverbs 16: 31 (ESV)
“Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained
in a righteous life.”
I love verse 31 from Proverbs 16 only because I decided to stop
coloring my hair and let my gray hair come out. In our modern world, having
gray hair for a man or a woman is considered taboo. We are so afraid of letting
people know our age, especially in our hair. Many bible commentaries report
that in the time of Christ, having gray hair was seen as symbol of wisdom and
experience. I also think aging was a bigger deal in time of Christ because
people did not live very long lives, so if you had gray hair it meant you lived
a long life and you survived by your skill or wealth.
But Solomon adds a caveat to this statement about gray hair.
If you have gray hair and have lived a long life, it is because you have followed
God’s law and have been favored with good health. So just having gray hair
doesn’t mean a person has a crown of glory. You only receive the crown of glory
when you follow God’s laws and plan for your life.
My decision to let my hair go gray came from the Holy
Spirit. I believe I was encouraged to let my hair go gray because Holy Spirit
is teaching me lessons about vanity. I think the lesson is my beauty comes from
what is inside me and not from what I look like to the world. And what is
inside me is my love for God, and I need to reflect to the world how I am
trying to develop a Christ-like nature. It’s a tall order, but with the help of
the Holy Spirit I know I will improve in this area of my life.