LONG LIFE
Proverbs 3:1-2 My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: for length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.
Long life is a promise to all believers, but there are conditions to make sure we have long life. How long is long life? Is there an age? Many people say the Bible says long life is 70 to 80 years; others say, according to scripture, that a man’s life should be 120 years. Who is right? The Bible says both. What is the clear interpretation? I think long life should be gauged biblically between 80 and 120 years. Now that this is mostly settled, the Bible is clear there are things you can do to lengthen or shorten your days upon the Earth. It is a clear promise in God’s Word. Psalm 91:16 also agrees with our scripture. It says, “With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation.”
How do we extend our lives on planet Earth so we can get the work done that God has assigned to us? Our verse says to not forget the law, the written Word of God. We must be doers of the Word; we must be people who live by faith, who live by the written Word of God. When we continually do the Word, it will increase our days upon the Earth. Deuteronomy 5:33 says the same thing: walk in the ways the Lord commanded you, so it will go well with you, and you will live long. In Proverbs 10:27, we find that the fear of the Lord, or the reverence for God, will prolong your life. In Ephesians 6:1-3, we find that if we honor our father and mother, it will go well with us, and we will live long upon the Earth. In Proverbs 9:10-11, we find that by reverence and getting God’s wisdom that our days will be multiplied, and the years of our life will be increased.
You can clearly see that it is not up to God how long we live on the Earth. It is more up to us than Him. And no, there is not one appointed time for anyone to die. Once we are born on the Earth, we do have an appointment with death, but it is more up to us than God when that appointment will be. We all have that appointment, and it is not just set by God. What am I telling you? Once again, we can’t leave up to God what He has left up to us. I will say this, the very worst thing the devil can do to you, as a born-again believer, is get you to Heaven sooner than you should have been, but Heaven is always a win. Heaven is always a victory. That is why the Bible says, “Death, where is your sting?” When a believer leaves their body and goes to Heaven, there is only victory! But there is a lot of work to be done for the Lord until He returns, so stay long upon the Earth until your work is done, you’ve finished your course with joy and are satisfied; and then, after you have lived a very long, successful, happy life, you can leave your body and make Heaven your eternal home. Length of days, long life, and peace be added to every one of you who do the things written in the Word of God.