How to Live Longer

This mini-series began with two questions. Does God know when I will die? Can I make a difference in the length of my life?

The answer to both questions is yes. God knows how many days of life we have. He knows when we will die. He can, and does, add days to our allotment based on our choices. 

There are at least two ways described in Scripture that add length to our lives. 

In Deuteronomy 4 and Deuteronomy 30, God set a choice before His people. Obedience and life. Disobedience and death. (also see Proverbs 3:1-2, 9:10-11)

 "by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him, for this is your life and the length of your days..." 

                                            Deuteronomy 30:20 nasb

"My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments,

For length of days and years of life, and peace they will add to you."

                                 Proverbs 3:1-2 nasb

"The fear of the Lord prolongs life,

but the years of the wicked will be shortened."

                             Proverbs 10:27 nasb

God's word is very clear. He honors righteousness with an increase in days. 

Just to be sure we understand, this does not mean God will give us a longer life if we go to church every Sunday, or do good deeds, or abstain from certain sins. Those actions may be a part of fearing/respecting/honoring God, but our actions must flow from our love for Him. 

His word is equally clear. The years of the wicked will be shortened. We can sin as much as we want to sin, but those choices come with a price. We can cause tremendous destruction with our choices, but God sees and will eventually bring our sinful choices to an end. 

Defiant sin can shorten our lifespan.

The second method for adding length to our lives is a subset of the first and comes from the Ten Commandments.

Honor your father and mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land 

which the Lord you God gives you.

                                     Exodus 20:12 nasb

This verse can be taken one of two ways. First, honoring your parents will result in living in the Promised Land for a longer period of time. (Same lifespan. More of it in the Promised Land) Second, honoring your parents will result in prolonged life when you are living in the Promised Land. (Longer life, no matter where you are.) Ephesians 6:3 seems to point toward the second interpretation. 

Honoring your parents will results in a longer lifespan.

The key to a long life is simple, and easier than you might think. 

If you want a longer life, do what God says. 

Love God. Love others. Demonstrate that love in the way we live.

We'll have one more post on this topic before we move on. Tomorrow's topic: Is longer life worth the cost of obedience? 

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In case you missed one of this week's posts, here are the links: Walking with God or Hiding with the World,  The Same Jesus, The God Who Never Fails, Halfway to Canaan, The Blessing Jar, The Potential for Heritage, Does God Know When I Will Die? Part 1 and Does God Know When I Will Die? Part 2

#lifeanddeath #longlife #whenwillIdie #doesGodknow #disciple #Christian #choice

photo courtesy freeimages.com

Does God Know When I Will Die? part 2

A friend called recently with a question about whether or not God knows when we will die and whether medical treatment can change when we die. The answer is not as simple as one might hope.

Yesterday, we considered the omniscience and omnipresence of God. 

He is everywhere at once. He knows everything.

Nothing surprises God. Nothing takes Him off-guard. Does God know when we will be born? Yes. Does God know when we will die? Yes. 

I can be certain about those two answers based on Psalm 139.

You wove me in my mother's womb...

Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;

And in Your book were all written

the days that were ordained for me,

when as yet there was not one of them.

Psalm 139:13, 16 nasb

We are completely known, from beginning to end, by our Creator.

If all our days are known by God, can we change the time we have on this earth? Yes. We can change both the quality and the duration of the time we have on earth. 

When Adam and Eve were placed in the garden, they had the choice to obey or not. That choice brought consequences, including (but limited to) expulsion from the garden, hard labor, and difficult childbirth. The quality of their life was changed by their choice, and likely the length of it, as well.

Medical studies have shown that certain lifestyle choices are associated with shortened length of life. If we make those lifestyle choices, we can expect to shorten our lives. Our lives are not shortened because of the medical study, our lives are shortened because of our choice. 

Some lifestyles are associated with diseases that can not only shorten our lives, but also drastically impact the quality of our lives as well. (smoking and lung cancer)

If we have diabetes, we can choose to follow a strict regimen of diet, exercise, and medication. We can choose to control our blood sugars and decrease the possibility of suffering and complications from diabetes, such as blindness, loss of sensation, loss of limb, and cardiovascular disease. Who wants to go blind? No one. All those complications will decrease the quality of our lives. 

Making good choices makes a difference.

High cholesterol levels are clearly associated with heart disease. If we take medication to lower our cholesterol, it may seem that a low cholesterol is the goal. It's only part of the goal. The goal of lipid-lowering medication is to avoid the consequences of a high cholesterol, which is, ultimately either heart damage from a myocardial infarction (heart attack) or debilitating chest pain from angina. Our choice to take (or not take) medication for high cholesterol can affect the quality of our life. 

Does that mean that medical care makes changes God doesn't know about? Of course not. He is omniscient. He knows everything. He knows the choices we will make and the effect those choices will have on our lives.

Both lifestyle choices and medical choices can change the quality of our lives, but can they change the length of our lives? Yes. We'll consider how to lengthen (or shorten) our days tomorrow. 

For now, let's take a close look at the lifestyle choices we make. Are they leading to complications that will improve or worsen the quality of our lives? Even more important, do our lifestyle choices draw people to Jesus or push them away?

Our choices do make a difference. 

Choose well.

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In case you missed one of this week's posts, here are the links:Freedom and Grace, Walking with God or Hiding with the World,  The Same Jesus, The God Who Never Fails, Halfway to Canaan, The Blessing Jar, The Potential for Heritage, and Does God Know When I Will Die? Part 1

#lifeanddeath #whenwillIdie #doesGodknow #disciple #Christian #choice

Does God Know When I Will Die? part 1

A friend called me earlier this week with a serious question. The people at work had posed a stunning dilemma. "If God knows when we will be born, does He also know when we will die?" That question was followed by another. 

"If our time of death is predetermined, does it matter what we do? Does it matter if we treat medical problems with medication?" 

As a physician, I had to be particularly careful with my answer for fear someone would abandon vital medical care in the mistaken idea that it "didn't matter". 

"Give me a few days to think about it," I suggested. "I'll probably blog about it."

The answer is not as simple as yes or no, so it will take me more than one blog to clarify, but this is my attempt to answer the two-fold question.*

To begin, we need to understand that God is not human, with humanity's limitation. 

Blue Letter Bible lists sixteen attributes of God that include eternality, goodness, grace, holiness, imminence, immutability, justice, love, mercy, omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience, righteousness, self-existence, sovereignty, and transcendence. 

For our purposes, we will consider only two. Omnipresence and omniscience. 

Omnipresence means that God is everywhere, all at once, with all of Himself. 

He is here with me at the same time that He is there with you at the same time that He is in all places around the world. He is here. Supporting Scripture (in case you want to look them up) include Job 11:7-9, Jeremiah 23:23-24, and my favorite, Psalm 139:7-10. 

David asked the question, "Where can I hide from God?" He, like many of us, knew the agony of total failure and the desire to hide from God rather than face Him with his sin. The answer David found was "nowhere". 

There's nowhere to hide from God. 

No matter what we do, no matter where we go, God is already there. When we do things we hope will never be found out, things that would bring shame were they known, we can be assured that God knows because He is there.

"If I ascend to heaven, Thou art there; 

If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, Thou art there. 

If I take the wings of the dawn,

If I dwell in the remotes part of the sea,

Even there Thy hand will lead me,

And Thy right hand will lay hold of me." 

                                                             Psalm 139:8-10 nsb

The attribute of omniscience goes hand in hand with omnipotence. 

Omniscience means that God knows everything and there is nothing that He does not know. 

He knows what we do, the words we say, the thoughts we think. He knows. Neither the good we do, nor the evil in which we indulge is overlooked by God. He knows it all. Supporting Scriptures include Psalm 147:5, Ezekiel 11:5, Romans 11:33, 1 John 3:20, and Hebrews 4:13. The passage in Ezekiel is the one that always gives me pause. 

"...Thus says the Lord,... I know your thoughts..."

                                                  Ezekiel 11:5 nasb

For today, it's enough to remember that we serve an all-knowing, all-seeing, ever-present God. 

We are not alone. We are not overlooked.

For good or ill, our God knows us as we are and loves us anyway. There is great hope in that truth. 

He loves us anyway.

Today, rejoice in the anyway-love of God and know that, no matter what you do, you can never escape the watchful eye of our sweet and loving God. 

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* Tomorrow, we'll tackle the question, "Does God know when I will die?" and "Does how I live make a difference?" The answers may surprise you, so be sure to check back. Hint: We can add days and take them away by our choices. 

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In case you missed one of this week's posts, here are the links: Out with the Old, Freedom and Grace, Walking with God or Hiding with the World,  The Same Jesus, The God Who Never Fails, Halfway to Canaan, The Blessing Jar, and The Potential for Heritage.

#lifeanddeath #doesGodknow #disciple #Christian