When does "youth" end? What does the Bible say about "youth"? When does the next phase of life after youth (middle age?) begin?
I think youth ends at around 35, but I don't think after 35 is middle age either. Is it different for men and women?
Hi The Indian Girl,
What an interesting question! I was thinking about your thread yesterday and have been trying to work on formulating an answer.
I am wondering if it depends on how we define "youth." I'm not sure exactly how God would it define either, as people had widely varying age spans in the Bible (when did "youth" end for Methuselah, who lived to be 969 years old?)
As another example, God called Moses when he was 40 years old. Moses went to speak the Pharaoh when he was 80. And Moses died at 120, resulting in one of my favorite passages in the Bible: "Mose was 120 when he died, but his eyesight was clear, and he was just as strong as ever." I would have loved to have seen 120-year-old Moses compete with a 20-year-old young man at a task. I'm guessing that even at his advanced age, Moses could more than have held his own (after all, he had a lifetime of experience to go along with his strength.)
Would Moses still have been seen as a youth at the age of 40? I'm guessing that at the time, it's very likely. People in their 60's like to pat me on the head and tell me I'm just a baby, and I'm always thinking about a family friend who lived into the triple digits, and how that person could have easily patted a 95-year-old on the head and told THEM that they were just a baby.
But I think it can also depend on your attitude and how well you take care of yourself. You might be able to "feel" young longer if you don't just sit around and mope about how you're getting older.
I think Going Nowhere makes an excellent point here. Last year I spent some time with a friend who has a teenage son, and my friend and I were talking about how old we were getting. Her son immediately piped up and said, "You and Mom aren't old," Intrigued, I asked him why he thought that, and he replied, "Because you still get up and do stuff, Aunt Seoul, like jumping on the trampoline with us." To him, "getting old" meant no longer being active or having any fun.
Paul tells us to stop thinking like children and put childish ways behind us (1 Corinthians 13:11,) but I think there is a balance between the responsibilities of adulthood and still allowing ourselves to enjoy life and still be playful.
It's also funny how we can become adept at hiding the concerns of adulthood behind youthful activities. I still love theme parks and I particularly use to love a coaster that rockets from 0 to 120 miles an hour in less than 4 seconds.
But the reason I love coasters like this so much is because for a brief instant, I feel as if I'm finally going fast enough to run ahead of the sadness and problems of the grown-up world... Even if it's just for a couple of seconds.
physically I am not youthful anymore but mentally I don't feel like I am 42 
