OK. Third time lucky! Here's my final wish.
Make me as fit as I was when I was twenty-five and keep me fit and healthy for the rest of my days.
Nothing can go wrong this time. When I was twenty-five I played football regularly. I could run for miles without tiring. I'd done cross-country running at school, coming 16th out of 250 in the senior event. I'd boxed for the school and although not the strongest, I was fast. Our trainer called me his "Little blob of mercury!" I won more fights than I lost.
When I left school I weighed just eight and a half stone. I felt as fit as a flea!
So! If I stay as fit as that all my life there is no knowing what a wonderful time I would have. My wife would be thrilled with my fitness and staying power whatever I was doing. My children would marvel at their wonderful father. Employers would be impressed by my fitness and physical ability. Perhaps I might run the London Marathon when I was seventy and finish in the top ten. Probably never have to see a doctor, unless I injured myself in some way, because I'd always be healthy. I'm warming to this wish even as I think about it. Surely nothing can go wrong this time – I'm on a winner!
So that's it then. The third wish is the one to go with. Or is it? Have I missed something? Is there a hidden snag I've not spotted? No, I don't think so, but……….oh dear! I didn't think of that. If I was now as fit as when I was twenty-five, I would have to live till I was, at least, a hundred and fifteen before I became as unfit as I am now. And, frankly, I'm not doing too badly up to now. I go to the gym three times a week, I'm busy at the theatre, and get about quite well – as long as I don't try to race about!
I would outlive most of my current peers and friends, and probably many of my family. I'd possibly be wishing it might end by then – but the three wishes have gone – and I'm not sure I want to be around in another forty-odd years. What state might the world be in by then?
Lord, please may I cancel all of those three wishes. They were made without giving them proper consideration, and I forgot to consider all the good things you have given me over the years. Please forgive the wild daydreams of a silly old man.
Jim Finch
Read the Bible in a year: Proverbs 28:18-28, Ezekiel 45:1-46:24, 1 Peter 3:1-22
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