At 69, Ronald Reagan was the oldest person to become U.S. President.

When Ronald Reagan came to the White House in 1981 for the first of his two terms as president, he was well past the age when most people retire. When he left the White House in 1989 at age 77, President Reagan was eight years older than the next-oldest president, Dwight D. Eisenhower, was when he left office in 1961.

The president was often the first to joke about his age. At one point, he reportedly said, “Thomas Jefferson once said, ‘We should never judge a president by his age, only by his works.’ And ever since he told me that, I stopped worrying.” But perhaps his most well-known quip about his age came during a debate with Democratic presidential candidate Walter Mondale. The president, who was some 17 years older than his opponent, asserted, “I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience.”

We live in a society that values youthfulness. Thousands of dollars are spent each year on ways to preserve youth—plastic surgery, diet and exercise plans, laser eye surgery, hair transplants. In some cultures, however, age is a sign of wisdom and authority. Elders are to be respected and cared for. That’s how the Bible says we as Christians should act. Where elders are respected, long life is a blessing, not a joke.

In Leviticus 19:32, God tells us to “Show your fear of God by standing up in the presence of elderly people and showing respect for the aged.” In fact, wrote Paul, “And this is the promise: If you honor your father and mother, ‘you will live a long life, full of blessing’” (Ephesians 6:3).

Good advice to follow, don’t you think?

Wisdom belongs to the aged, and understanding to those who have lived many years (Job 12:12).

To Do

Write a letter to an older person that you know—a grandparent, teacher, pastor, or even your parent. Tell this person the many ways he or she has helped you and the many reasons for your respect.

Also on this day . . .

1885—The roller coaster was patented by L.A. Thompson.

1937—Franklin Delano Roosevelt became the first president to be inaugurated on January 20. The 20^th Amendment of the Constitution officially set the date for the swearing in of the President and Vice President.

1964—The album “Meet the Beatles” was released in the U.S., marking the start of the Beatles’ English invasion.

From Betsy Schmitt and Dave Veerman, 365 Trivia Twist Devotions: An Almanac of Fun Facts and Spiritual Truth for Every Day of the Year (Cincinnati: Standard, 2005). Scripture quotations are from the New Living Translation unless otherwise noted.