Living How Long?

The Lancet, a prestigious medical journal based in the United Kingdom, reported that the majority of children now being born in wealthy nations will live to be 100 years old.* Yet as wonderful as it sounds, that announcement looks less exciting when considered in light of the Bible. In the beginning, God created a perfect world, where the inhabitants were intended to live forever. The apostle John affirms that “this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life” (1 John 2:25).

It is true that living to be 100 years old is a wonderful achievement.

In many British Commonwealth countries, it was customary that those who lived to 100 would receive a congratulatory telegram from the Queen. But God’s plans are so much better. Compared to the patriarchs of the Bible, a person who lives to 100 is a spring chicken! Adam lived to be 930. Seth, the son of Adam, lived to 912. Seth’s son Enos died at 905, and Methuselah died in the year of the Flood at the age of 969—making him the oldest man who ever died.

The oldest man who ever lived is Enoch, who was translated without seeing death and is still living. Sin has dragged the world down to the place where 100 years of life is considered a great achievement.

The oldest person in the world at any given time is usually around 116 years old. But God wants us to make truly long-term plans.

I once met an elderly woman who told me she didn’t want to live forever. “It seems like such a long time,” she told me, “and I can’t imagine what I would do.” But God can! Those who hold the hand of Jesus can be certain of living a meaningful, fulfilling, exciting life that has no end. That is God’s perfect plan for you.

And you don’t want to miss it!