Living a Satisfied Life
When I was younger I
used to think that every person has a certain amount of heartbeats and after
those are used up, their life is over. In other words, before you were born, the
day of your death is already determined and you have no control over it.
Needless to say, when I finally read what the Bible said about this topic, it
changed my way of thinking!
Ecclesiastes 7:17 says, "Be not foolish, why should you die before your time?"
We must realize as Christians that it is God's will for us to live a long and
satisfying life (Psalm 91:16; John 10:10; 3 John 2). Anything less than that is
going before your time.
Throughout the Scriptures we find that our lives can be shortened or lengthened
depending on how we live our life. Hosea 4:6 tells us that God's people are
destroyed for lack of knowledge. Lack of knowledge of what? Of God's Word. We
must recognize that there are things we must do and not do that will directly
affect the length and quality of our days here on earth.
We as believers have a part to play if we want to receive the promises God makes
available in His Word. In a covenant, both 'parties' must do their part. What is
our part? We must obey God's commands in His Word. When we obey Him, it will ADD
length and good days to our life (Proverbs 3:1-2; 1 Peter 3:10-11). We must fear
(reverence) the Lord and be filled with godly wisdom. According to the Bible,
this will PROLONG our days (Proverbs 10:27; Proverbs 9:10; Proverbs 3:16).
God has set spiritual laws into motion on this earth. When we live a life of
disobedience against God's Word, there are consequences. You will reap what you
sow. The Bible says that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Regardless if
you believe in spiritual laws or not, they work. An example in the natural realm
is the law of gravity. It doesn't matter if you believe in gravity or not, if
you jump off a building, the law of gravity will work.
Some time ago I heard people making comments about a person who was killed
drinking and driving saying, "It was his time to go," and "God wanted to take
him home to heaven." No, it wasn't his time to go and God had nothing to do with
it! This man made foolish choices and he paid the consequence of his actions and
died before his time. It is non-biblical statements like that that cause people
to blame God for things that happen that are simply the fruit of the devil, sin
and bad choices.
I want to encourage you to live a life of obedience to God through the Lord
Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. And on that day when you take
your last breath on this earth, you will say with all of the faithful
Christians, I have lived a blessed and satisfied life (Psalms 91:16)!
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