Longevity Of Life Or Quality Of Life?

As I read this article by Bloomberg writer Ben Steverman this morning, I had to laugh at the writer's apparent preoccupation with death, i.e., the longevity of man, or the lack thereof. The Hebrew writer tells us that we (and the rest of mankind), do have an appointment with death, but only God knows when that appointment will be (Hebrews 9:27; cf. 2 Kings 20:1; Isaiah 38:1).

Thus as Christians, we shouldn't be too overly concerned about the longevity of our lives, as we should be with the quality of our lives before God. It's interesting to note this contrast in the following two men's lives as recorded in the Old Testament:

1) Methuselah lived to be 969 years old (Genesis 5:27), but nothing of any significance is recorded about his life during those 969 years, with the lone exception being that he produced Lamech and other sons and daughters (Genesis 5:25-26)

Whereas it is recorded that .....

2) Enoch "walked with God" (Genesis 5:21-24). Notice that this phrase is mentioned two times for emphasis.

Question: How did Enoch "walk" with God? Simply by following God's instructions and commandments to the letter — something that both Saul and Solomon did not do (1 Samuel 15:10-11; 1 Kings 9:1-7).

So we see that it is not so much the longevity of our lives that matters here on earth, but the quality of our lives before God. The question becomes, What did I do for the Lord while I was here on earth? (Matthew 25:34-45; cf. 1 Corinthians 15:58; Galations 6:9-10; James 1:27; 1 John 3:15-18).

Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets

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