Genesis 5:27 “So all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years; and he died.”
Over the years, one of the most recognizable names from the Bible is Methuselah because of his AGE. With his age listed at 969 years, he is regarded as the oldest living person in the Bible. As we find ourselves wanting to describe something as old we might say “It is as old as Methuselah” or “They are as old as Methuselah.”
Our verse does reveal his age, AND it does reveal another very sobering fact, revealing HE DIED. “And HE DIED.” For 969 years, death had not knocked on Methuselah’s door. Yet we find out, like all before him (except his father, Enoch), that death did knock on his door. “And HE DIED.”
BTW: Genesis 5 is known as the death chapter. 8 times it will say, AND HE DIED.
Death. Not a subject we usually care to talk about. Yet every now and then, it is good to be reminded that life does come with a deadline, an unknown deadline, and usually an unexpected deadline. While there are numerous verses to consider, please allow me to only share a few that remind us to LIVE before we DIE.
Ecclesiastes 9:10 says, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going.”
In 1 Samuel 20:3, David said, “There is but a step between me and death.”
James reminds us of how brief life is. James 4:14 says, “Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”
In a Bible of mine, I have by James 4:14 the quote that says, “You only have one life, and it soon will pass. Only what is done for Christ will last.”
Because of the fact that we are destined for a meeting with death (unless the rapture occurs), we need to take to heart Psalm 90:12, which says, “So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
Have you thought about how many days you have lived? Are you thinking about how many more days you MAY have? There is coming a day when someone is going to say your name, and then they will say, “AND HE/SHE DIED.”
It is crucial that we not live before we die, but that we are prepared for the judgment that follows when we die. Hebrews 9:27 says, “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” If you know Jesus, you are prepared. If you don’t know Jesus as Savior, you are NOT prepared.
Continue Strong living every day for Jesus, prepared to meet Jesus,
And remember to daily DATE the Word