"And great was its fall"
August 23, 2005
Job 38: 2 - 7 NKJV
I recently noticed a couple aquaintences of mine who have bought into a movement which seems to attempt to convince others that man can indeed live to the age of 120 years. Now, I don't dispute this possibility as anything is indeed possible, but I have wondered as to why one would consider such a thing. Granted, good health and fitness can be a good thing, and these few men know that well. But 120 years? To date, the oldest a person has lived has been 122 years, and that was French maiden Jeanne Calment who passed in 1997. So yes, it can be done, but at what cost? For what would be ones quality of life at 120 years? That would be the question I would be asking. The fact that mans days would be 120 years is mentioned in Genesis 6:3...just before the Lord claimed that He was indeed sorry that He had created man on the earth {Genesis 6:6}. If one would use this scripture as their basis for the 120 year club, I would question their motives. The very reason that our Lord grieved that He had created man was that our hearts were wicked! Believe me, not much has changed since then. For the flesh of mankind is still inclined towards evil. Of course, that was then and this is now, and alot has happened in regards to our future since those early pre flood days. For one, our new future is not as bleak as it once was. Indeed, I would venture that when we gaze with our eyes upon our Lords coming, that we just might realize that time with Him is far better than anything 120 years on this earth could EVER offer to us.
13Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”
James 4: 13 - 15 NKJV
What is it that James told us in James 4 that has a great deal to do with our discussion of that 120 year dream? Well, the fact is that not one of us knows what our futures hold. Not me, and certainly not those whose desire it is to remain in this world for 120 years. Now, it may be our plan to do such things, but in the end who is the one who ultimately decides our futures? That would be God, the First and the Last and the Alpha and the Omega. As the Lord gently asked of Job, "where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?" The fact is, I can make all the plans under the sun for my life, but it is my heavenly Father who will determine the steps I will eventually take {Proverbs 16:9}. Of course, there will always be those who will choose the carpe diem philosophy, I get it. However, wouldn't it be wiser for me to ensure and celebrate my life in Christ, which the years can never take away from me? Perhaps, but again that's just my opinion. My time with Christ Jesus is now guaranteed, my time in this world is not. Indeed, it is Christ who should be our focus. Joyfull is that day when we will enter into His presence. I wonder just what Jesus would tell us if we were to mention our desire to live for 120 years. Never mind, I already know that answer...
24“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25“and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26“But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27“and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
Matthew 7: 24 - 27 NKJV
~Scott~
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