It’s Not the Years in One’s Life, But…..

“And the LORD said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.”  Genesis 6:3

Even though God is omniscient, that is, He knows the end from the beginning and nothing takes Him by surprise, He still created man and woman, knowing that they would sin, be disobedient, and reject Him.  So why did He create man?  The only answer that I can come up with is that God knew that there would be multitudes (Revelation 7:9) who would believe on Him, honor Him, serve Him, and worship Him.  He made a way that sinful man can be reconciled with Him through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ, and He offered this forgiveness and pardon to all who would repent and place faith in Christ.  God created man, gave him free will which gave man the ability to sin, but God didn’t leave man without a remedy for his sin.

One of the consequences of man’s sin has been the shortening of man’s lifespan upon earth.  Remember that Methuselah, the seventh generation after Adam, lived to be 969 years old.  That seems impossible to us considering only a small percentage of earth inhabitants make it to 100 years of age.  There are some who try to rationalize Methuselah’s age by speculating that time was not measured in the days right after creation like days are measured now.  However, I believe that God created a 24 hour day and did not change it.  As time passed, man’s lifespan began to grow shorter and shorter as evidenced by Genesis 6:3 which gives man a lifespan of 120 years.  Then later, scripture tells us that man’s days are 70 years, and for some 80 years (Psalm 90:10).  Thus sin has not only taken its toll on man mentally and spiritually, but physically as well.  It is a scary thought to think someone like Hitler could have lived over 900 years.

The Psalmist, in Psalm 90:12, urges us to “number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom”.  No one knows how long he or she will live on this present earth.  It is up to each individual to make the most of what time that he or she has to serve God and serve others.  There is an old saying that emphasizes the importance of spending our time in pursuit of that which seeks to make our little part of the world a better place:  “It’s not the years in one’s life, but the life in one’s years that counts.”  How are we spending our days?