Now that I have hit the age of 50, I get caught up in the same thing that most people do. I need to get some color and get rid of the gray in my hair. How can I get rid of the bags and circles under my eyes. I need to dress like the younger adults so I don't seem to be 50. I really should get up and start exercising. Will I lose control of my mind like my father, his brother and my sister? And for some reason, the thought of the Fountain of Youth kept going through my head this last week.

For Centuries people have been searching for it. The elusive Fountain of Youth. People have claimed to have found it in many parts of the world. People have created many paintings about it & to this day, people visit those places claimed to be the fountain of youth by those in the past. I'll bet some believe that it will work, should they drink from it.

Even if you don't believe that there is a true fountain of youth, admit it, we spend billions every year to defy the aging process to maintain some of our youth. We will try just about anything to maintain it. We try to eat right, buy pills, apply creams, inject ourselves with foreign substances and even have surgeries to rid ourselves of the wrinkles, the spots and the sags. We color our hair and if we are losing it, we do comb overs, wear wigs or again surgery. And for many people, we spend hours in a gym working out daily or spend billions on home equipment that most often goes unused.  Infomercials run rampant on every media bombarding us with ads selling us all kinds of hope and ridiculous promises that will never come to fruition.

To be honest. I am not sure why anyone would want to be forever youthful and live on this earth in it's current state forever. If you ask me, this life in it's current state is somewhat miserable. So many injustices going on. People are cruel, arrogant and hateful to each other. Even those of us in the United States who are so very blessed, complain about EVERYTHING!!!. I also can't think of any job that I could possibly want to do forever. Do you want to work in a miserable and low paying job for eternity? We even glamorize the fictional vampires who live forever. Really? Think about it.

In 1513, Ponce de Leon was looking for & thought he had found life sustaining water that would eliminate physical death. This magical place shown at the left & was found in Florida of all places. Obviously it was futile. At one time, however, mankind had access to a tree whose fruit provided exactly what Ponce de Leon was looking for. Not surprisingly, it was called “the tree of life” (Genesis 2:9).  By God’s blessing the fruit of that tree sustained physical life as long as an individual would continue to eat thereof (Genesis 3:22).  When man entered into sin, however, God removed him from access to the tree of life, & physical death became a reality (Genesis 2:16-17; Romans 6:23).

Well the good news or the bad news is that there is Eternal Life where we can be forever youthful and actually can be made perfect. Obviously it is not given to us in our earthly life, but it is a promise that was made by God and according to Jesus we will live for eternity in heaven or hell depending on who we know. This body will die and we will be given new bodies prepared for such an eternal existence. Eternal life in our current bodies would be torment.

John 4:13  Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this (earthly) water will be thirsty again,
John 4:14  but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a SPRING of water WELLING UP to ETERNAL LIFE."

The bad news is that the wrong choice in this life could be eternity in a not so nice place. Even if that not so nice place was like the earth as it is now. I still wouldn't want to be there. But I have a feeling, it will be a lot worse then we can even imagine. “Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Mark 10:15 

But it doesn't have to be like this. You can admit that you are a sinner and trust in Jesus as your Savior. The entrance to heaven has been paid by his death and resurrection. His death on the cross provided us with the opportunity to be redeemed from the guilt and condemnation of our sin (Revelations 5:9).  In Him we can find “eternal life” (Rom. 6:23) When man became sinful, God set in motion His plan for man’s redemption, forgiveness and salvation (Genesis 3:15).  God sent His Son Jesus Christ into this world to be the Savior of mankind (Luke. 2:11; Luke 19:10).

We spend way too much time searching the world for answers, rather then searching the scriptures. And I am just as guilty. I don't spend too much time worrying about looking beautiful, but I certainly am guilty of not spending enough time in scripture.

Choosing a life of following Christ is the only true Fountain of Youth. All others are just fantasy and time wasters. How will your pursuit for the Fountain of Youth end?  Futile? or Fruitful? Where will you spend eternity?  Inside (Heaven)? or Outside (Hell)?

Ponce de Leon’s fountain of youth?  An unreal myth.  Eternal life in Christ?  Absolutely real and available to all who will come to Him on His terms (Matthew 11:28-29). Have you or will you come to the true fountain of youth..?