Most of us don't give a lot of thought to the length of out lives. Many seem to believe that there is some "fate" that determines the length of our lives and that we can't do anything about it. Others seem to be totally absorbed with their health, always seeking some new fad or diet that will add some benefit to their physical well being.
We certainly know that we can shorten our lives by improper conduct. Our habits affect our health. That may not seem obvious when you are young, but things like too much exposure to the sun or smoking can drastically shorten your stay on earth. The good side of this equation is that there are things we can do that will lengthen our lives. This is simple promise of the Bible. There are things that we can do to enjoy a long life. These things are not balances to wrong conduct. There is a choice to make.if we choose the path that leads to enjoying a long life, we must also choose to leave off the things that can shorten our lives. We have a body, a mind and a spirit. Each of these can be healthy or sick. Every part of us affects the other parts. This is obvious in our physical bodies. If you have a sore toe, just a small part of you is out of order, but the rest of the body will suffer. The same is true of our spirits and minds. Our physical health is made better or worse by the state of our minds and spirits. Everyone will die, and most of us will get sick before we die. Life and death are in the hands of God. The best way for us to live is to live for Him.
A promise to commandment Keepers.
In proverbs 3:1, we are admonished to learn from the generations that have gone before us. We can do this in two ways. We can avoid their mistakes, then, we can imitate their successes. The "law' and commandments" mentioned where the successes and lessons learned by a father that he wanted to pass along to his son. We only have two choices. We can either learn from those who are older, or we can learn from our own mistakes. It should be obvious that it is less painful to learn from the experiences of others. When we learn from others, we are given two promises.
First, we are given a promise of length of days or long life. There are several ways this promise could come true. One is that we simply add to our lives because we avoid the dangers that our parents have survived. Life is dangerous, and the foolish and foolhardly usually do not live long. Those who have lived a long time have learned things that others need to know. Heeding these lessons could add years to our lives because we learned how to avoid dying young. But there is more to it than that. The life of the body is also dependent on the spirit housed in it. Keeping the commandments of God will insure that our spirits are right with Him, and this can literally add years to our lives.
There is no better place for us to be than in the center of God's will. When we are, we have all the resources of heaven to help us with our problems, no matter what they are. When we trust Christ as our Savior and follow Him completely as our Lord, we have done everything we can to make our lives as full as they can possibly be.
Notice that the Second promise is peace. There is more to life than longevity. We may live a long time and not accomplish much. On the other hand, our lives may he short but full and meaningful. Spiritual peace is the result of having meaningful work to do, and no work means more than the work of God. When we are fully and completely involved in the work of God, we are making our lives count.
Direction to commandment keepers.
If we want God to give us long life, we have to make up our minds to do something productive and useful with it. Many seem to think that they are here on a "pleasure hunt". God has not put us here to see how much fun we can have. This does not mean that we should never have fun, but enjoyment is by-product. We get it when our primary activity is serving the Lord and serving others. It's a paradox, but one of the surest ways to be unhappy is to worry about being happy all the time. God gives us direction and to really enjoy our lives, we must follow where He leads.
This begins with our trusting in the Lord. Our trust must be wholehearted. God wants to be first in our lives. He asks us to trust in Him with all our hearts. This is a complete and total commitment of ourselves to Him. Then He asks us to not lean on our own understanding. Much of life is beyond our understanding. Everyday bad things happen to good people. We can never understand why these things happen, and we are simply told not to try. When we insist on understanding, we only cause ourselves unhappiness. God asks us to accept and to follow His Holy Spirit. We may not understand, but we can be faithful.
To get the direction of God in our lives, we must acknowledge Him. This means that God must be the first, not in the background. We often have important decisions to make. Many of these decisions could shorten our lives. His Spirit will guide us, but not if we don't seek Him. His word will sustain us, but not if we don't know it. His power will keep us, but not if we don't call on it. His Son will save us, but not if we don't ask Him. Do you see How it works? This is not some spiritual "magic". It is simply the ordinary and normal way the Holy Spirit works. God leads us, and we must acknowledge and follow Him. Compare it to climbing a ladder. We have to take it one rung at a time. The first step is salvation. The next steps are Baptism and church fellowship. Then we become faithful servants following God daily. Step by step, God will direct our paths. It is our challenge to do what Jesus asked when He said," follow me".
Warning for commandment keepers.
If God promises direction and long life for those who will follow Him, why would anyone not make this choice? The answer is given in verse 7. We are admonished not to be "wise in thine own eyes". Everybody thinks that he knows best. No one intends to be foolish; yet, many insist on doing foolish things in the name of freedom and independence. God asks us to see things from His perspective. When we do, we will also see evil for what it really is. Evil shortens life and righteousness lengthens it. This is why we are warned about sin. Health is more than the absence of disease, and, to be really healthy we must have healthy spirits as well as sound bodies.
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Hari
Enjoy reading...Blessing