I have emphasised the importance of Christian fellowship with the local church during retirement. Remember, the days may come when you will be unable to go, so do not miss out while you can. Let its worship and activity take a central part in your life, and you will find real friends to help in times of need.
Make time too to quietly wait upon God and pray for your church. This is where older ones can really come into their own. In my ministry at one church, I happened to call on one of our aged members, only to find out at that very time each day she remembered me in her prayers.
There can also be an occasional correspondence with a missionary, or the offering of accommodation to a visitor; keeping a fatherly or motherly eye on your grand‑children. We have a wall plaque at home which says, "Grand‑children are God's compensation for growing old"!
I had a friend who took on the church bookshop in his retirement and made it a going concern. Another friend, a minister of a very large church reached the age of 65 and prayed that he would be even more useful to God. Shortly after he was invited to become a Radio preacher, and during his broadcasting years, hundreds wrote in confessing their faith in Christ.
There are many ways to use one's talents in the later years. Did you know that Beethoven wrote a symphony when he was 57? Reagan became President of the USA in his seventies; Samuel Johnson was still working at 68; Tennyson learned to paint at 70; Moses got going at 80, and John Wesley was still preaching at 86!
A minister once returned from taking an old people's service and he asked a friend to guess what he had been talking about. The usual texts were suggested. "At eventide it shall be light" and "Lo, I am with you always" etc; but they were way out. He had been speaking on the parable of the labourers who were found at the eleventh hour and sent to work! So there will always be something for us to do while we are around, and often the retired people tell us that they are busier than ever.
We are entitled to slacken the pace in later life. According to the book of Numbers (8:24) the Levites were retired at 50, and it also states that when a man reached 60, his commercial value (possibly for rating) dropped from 50 shekels to 15. A 75 per cent reduction. Oh dear, my shekels have gone!