How long?
September 22, 2011 (Thursday)
Tomorrow, September 23, 2011, is the first day of Autumn. We have four seasons in Rockport, but they are not as discernible as much as they are in other parts of the country. Ours is a semi-tropical climate.
Dale Pogue mentioned the musical piece, “September Song,” in one of his recent blogs. It’s a beautiful song, with a serious thought: “Oh, it’s a long, long while from May to December, but the days grow short when you reach September.”
Life expectancy varies from country to country around the world. The longest (82.2 years) is in Japan, and the shortest (29.9 years) is in Haiti. The United States is ranked number 29 with a life expectancy of 78.2 years. The expectancy charts say that a man my age is expected to live to be 90.8 years old.
A beautiful prayer in the Psalms says, “My times are in thy hand” (Psalms 31:15) In this verse, King David was expressing his belief that all of life’s circumstances are under God’s control. He was under great stress, but his faith was stronger than the difficulties he faced. We may find the life expectancy charts to be of interest, but we really have no way of knowing for sure how much time we have left in this life. Actually, I’ll let you in on a little secret: years ago I began to live eternally (John 5:24). If you have received Jesus into your heart as your Lord and Savior, you also have begun to live eternally. Here’s what he said: “”You don’t have to wait for the End. I am, right now, Resurrection and Life. The one who believes in me, even though he or she dies, will live. And everyone who lives believing in me does not ultimately die at all” (John 11:25-26 MSG).
Jesus then asked, “Do you believe this?” Do you? If so, you can forget the charts. You will live forever!