LIFE: DURATION OR DONATION?

And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and HE DIED – Genesis 5:27

Methuselah lived nine hundred and sixty-nine years, thirty-one years short of a millennium, the longest that any man ever lived on earth. No man ever lived to a thousand years. The Jews would attribute this to the notion that a thousand years is God's Day, which no man is allowed to attain (Psa.90:4). Nevertheless, one expects Methuselah to have made close to a millennial impact! Alas, all that we read of this oldest man is that he procreated and DIED. In this chapter alone, except for the case of Enoch, there are eight references to the phrase: “…and he died” – a strong pointer to the DEBT of DEATH! Methuselah’s record stood in sharp contrast to the shorter (three-hundred and sixty-five years) but eternally-impactful life of his father – Enoch, who did not taste death, but was translated into heaven supernaturally (Gen. 5:25; Heb. 11:5).

In addition, this brief record underscores the true value of life. William James said: “The great use of one’s life is to spend it for something that will outlast it, for the value of life is computed not by its DURATION, but by its DONATION.” It is more in the donation than in the duration. Jesus of Nazareth walked and worked on this earth realm for thirty-three years, with an eternal impact. It is important to live long, but HOW WELL matters much more than HOW LONG. It is time to ponder on this: To what purposes are you donating your time?

We all desire LONG LIFE, but this should mean much more than “longevity” which is simply a tendency to live long in terms of biological age. Many examples of longevity are merely “long EXISTENCE” and not “long LIFE”. God’s covenant-promise is to satisfy you with long life characterized by salvation all through, not “long existence” where one is a liability to others and to society (Psa.91:16). God desires that you remain fruitful and flourishing even in old age (Psa.92:12-14). To “flourish like the palm tree” means, to be useful to yourself and others all through your life-time; to fulfil divine purpose in its multi-faceted dimensions. May the Lord bless us with more LIFE in our years as He grants us more years in life.