Long Life

Do you think our lives matter much to God?

O Lord, what are we that you should care for us? mere mortals that you should think of us? We are like a puff of wind; our days are like a passing shadow. - Psalm 144:3-4

In today's reading, the Psalmist is amazed that God cares for us at all.  As he says, our lives are far too short to be of consequence, and that makes me think that it is not the life we enjoy on earth that God treasures, but us.

We value this life, because it is all we know.  We believe there is more, because Jesus told us there is, but it is here and now that we want extended indefinitely. 

I wonder, though, if God is like the parent who sends his child off into the world and cannot wait for him to come home.  If we were God, wouldn't we want our children sooner rather than later?

It is strange to think this way, because none of us wants to see our loved ones die.  So long as we are all here, let the time last.

But God walked among us as Jesus, and Jesus valued this life.  He raised the dead and cured illnesses, to make this life last longer and be better for us. 

So, even though He wants us to come home, He wants us to be happy in this life as long as we are here.

While we may not be guaranteed a long life, we could have a good one, and that is what is important.

We should all follow Jesus' example, then, and help each other through this life, for it is in loving one another that we show God that we know Him, for He is love.

I don't think God ignores our pleas to extend our time here, but I do believe God has more in store for us beyond our imagination.  So, when the time comes that we meet Him, we may not be ready, but He will be.

More to come...