--- id: 20170401_retirement_with_a_purpose title: BLOG - Retirement With a Purpose category: Biblical Life Counsel predicted_narrative_arc: aging-to-purposeful-service sentiment: Encouraging emotions: - Grateful - Challenging - Hopeful keypoints: - Waking to life as a gift reframes the "downhill" side of aging - Retirement still needs purpose — contributing to society, not only leisure - Colossians 3:23 calls all work — including retired service — to be done for the Lord - Volunteer, mentor, and show up for kids who lack stable parents - Dean challenges readers to act now and "keep up the mach" on life summary: > Dean Rush wakes to life as a gift on the downhill side of aging and insists retirement still requires purpose — contributing outside yourself. He applies Colossians 3:23 to retirees as well as employees, urges volunteering and mentoring children who lack stable parents, and challenges readers to act now and enjoy retirement with momentum. tags: - blog - human-resources - retirement - purpose - volunteering - mentoring - colossians-3 - biblical-wisdom - dean-rush sycophancy: 0 truth_score: 8 entropy: 3 sample: false consent: owner_approved agent: blog created: '2017-04-01' updated: '2026-09-09T00:00:00Z' vault_stage: 07_CODEX headwaters: BLOG prefix: BLOG enrich_status: ok enrich_blockers: [] enrich_method: manual pipeline_filename: BLOG_2017-04-01_retirement-with-a-purpose.md source_kind: blog_article proposed_topic: Wisdom lane: Wisdom voice: desk active_voice: desk voices: - desk routing_source: carbon corpus_topic: Wisdom content_status: active date: '2017-04-01' share_url: https://deanrush.net/blog/retirement-with-a-purpose source_url: https://deanrush.net/blog/retirement-with-a-purpose site_category: Human Resources archive_month: 2017-04 description: > Dean reframes retirement as purposeful service under Colossians 3:23 — volunteer, mentor, and work with all your heart for the Lord, not only for former bosses. --- # Retirement With a Purpose! **Author:** Dean Rush **Original post:** [deanrush.net/blog/retirement-with-a-purpose](https://deanrush.net/blog/retirement-with-a-purpose) **Archive month:** April 2017 · **Site category:** Human Resources > Voice note: Everything under **Dean's article** is Dean's original prose (lightly cleaned of HTML/image artifacts only). Sections marked **Biblical foundations**, **Scholar sidebar**, **Takeaways**, and **First-time learner** are enrichment for Asker / first readers — not Dean speaking. --- ## Biblical foundations (preface) Dean treats retirement not as an off-ramp from usefulness but as a season still under Colossians 3:23 — work with all your heart as for the Lord. The enrichment below does not replace his challenge; it shows the wider biblical frame for aging with purpose. | Dean's claim | Scriptural undercarriage | | --- | --- | | Life itself is a daily gift | This is the day the Lord has made (Psalm 118:24); every good gift is from above (James 1:17) | | Purpose continues past career | Fruitfulness in old age (Psalm 92:12–14); still bearing fruit (Psalm 92:14) | | Work for the Lord, not only human masters | Colossians 3:23–24 — heartily, as for the Lord; inheritance from the Lord | | Serve others outside yourself | Love your neighbor (Mark 12:31); good works prepared beforehand (Ephesians 2:10) | | Mentoring the fatherless / unstable is holy work | Defend the fatherless (Isaiah 1:17); visit orphans and widows (James 1:27) | --- ## Dean's article ### Realizing Reality ![Grandparents image from Dean's original post](https://deanrush.net/Portals/0/images/article/grandparents-1956838_960_720.jpg) I woke up today realizing that it was gift to be alive. It is a tough thing to find that you are now on the downhill side of life, however, it also feels good to be alive. The objective, at this point in my life, is to insure the days are filled with worthwhile activity. It is necessary to have a purpose and the objective as simply contributing to society. > **Scholar sidebar — Downhill calendar, uphill calling** > Psalm 118:24 and James 1:17 frame waking as gift. Psalm 92:12–14 promises the righteous still flourish and bear fruit in old age — gray hair is not a biblical exemption from purpose. Dean's "downhill side" is chronological honesty; his remedy is vocational: fill the days with worthwhile contribution. ### Do Something Outside Yourself! I am convinced the secret to contributing to our culture is to do something "outside" yourself that makes a difference to others. There is a great verse in the bible that says "**Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters…**" (**Colossians 3:23**). Not only does this verse speak to employees who are in the workplace, but it also talks to those of us who are now retired and have the opportunity to contribute to society. > **Scholar sidebar — Colossians 3:23 after the paycheck** > Paul writes to household workers under earthly masters, yet the logic stretches: whatever you do, the true Audience is the Lord (Colossians 3:23–24). Retirement ends a payroll relationship; it does not end stewardship. Ephesians 2:10 still assigns prepared good works. Dean's application — retirees under the same verse — is faithful, not forced. ### Take Your Time to Volunteer I suggest that, if you are retired, you take a bit of your time and volunteer. Get involved in managing a non-profit that works for the community, or teaching and mentoring young people. You will find that many of the local schools need "dad" or "mom" mentors. It takes very little time to just go and hang out for an hour in a school with kids who don't have a dad or mom come. You may be the most stable person that child has in their lives. As previously stated: "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters…" **I challenge you to act now.** Keep Up the Mach on life! (Enjoy your retirement brothers and sisters.) > **Scholar sidebar — An hour that may be someone's most stable hour** > Isaiah 1:17 and James 1:27 pull mercy toward the fatherless and vulnerable. Dean's mentoring picture is small on the calendar and large in a child's world. Mark 12:31's neighbor-love here looks like showing up at school. His closing challenge — act *now* — matches James 1:22: be doers, not hearers only. --- ## Takeaways 1. **Alive is a gift — even on the downhill side.** Dean holds honesty about aging together with gratitude for another day. 2. **Retirement still needs purpose.** Worthwhile activity and contribution to society remain the objective. 3. **Colossians 3:23 applies after the job ends.** Work with all your heart as for the Lord — not only for former bosses. 4. **Volunteer and mentor.** Non-profits and school "dad/mom" mentoring are named as concrete paths. 5. **Act now; keep momentum.** Enjoy retirement without coasting into uselessness. --- ## First-time learner ### What is Dean saying in one sentence? Treat retirement as a season to serve others with all your heart for the Lord — volunteer, mentor, and stay in motion. ### Why Colossians 3:23? Because the verse's Audience is God, not a human payroll. Dean uses it to keep retirees from thinking purposeful work ended when the paycheck did. ### Key verses to read with this post - **Colossians 3:23–24** — Work heartily as for the Lord. - **Psalm 92:12–14** — Fruitfulness in old age. - **Psalm 118:24** — This is the day the Lord has made. - **Ephesians 2:10** — Created for good works. - **James 1:27** — Care for orphans and widows. - **Isaiah 1:17** — Defend the fatherless. - **Mark 12:31** — Love your neighbor. ### A simple practice If you are retired or semi-retired this month: (1) block one recurring hour for volunteer or mentoring presence, (2) pray Colossians 3:23 before you go, (3) ask a local school or nonprofit where a stable adult is needed. ### How this feeds Ask Dean Seed material for questions such as: *What does Dean say about retirement? How should Christians use free time after work life?* Answers should keep Dean's challenge primary and use scholar notes only as biblical scaffolding.