Centurian

Our Pastor mentioned that the age of the oldest woman alive was 117 years old. She passed that milestone of existing last year in 2017, but I’m not sure if she is still alive. We marvel that she achieved that age, but even if I should live until I reach the one hundred year mark, what is it when compared to eternity. We measure time in seconds, minutes, hours, day, weeks, months, and years. It is all a way that man can see the fleetingness of his existence here on Earth.

In comparison to eternity, one hundred years is merely a small nick, a scratch and barely noticed. One hundred years in the eternal calendar of our Eternal God is merely a speck of dust, yet this Ever- Existing Being takes notice of each nanosecond of our lives and records it.

We begin to die the second that we’re born; each breath moves us closer to the grave. Mankind was meant to be an eternal being. He was to live forever. God created him sinless and pure. The Creator gave him intelligence to rule with only one rule, Do not eat the fruit of one tree or you will die, and yet Adam did. That act allowed sin to enter into him and age now became a factor in his life. Just as radiation can change our genes and warp our DNA, I believe the chemicals in that fruit somehow altered our genetic make up to shorten our lives, allow aches, pains, and diseases to have influence on our flesh.

My body is wearing down, muscles don’t work like they once did, aching after I complete some task. I don’t think as clearly as I once did, making the recollections of things I once learned or once did a struggle. I think that is one of the reasons that I blog. I have put down many memories from my childhood through school, factory work, my military service, college, and my career as a nurse. My life may not mean much to anyone but my children. I am saddened like most people that I didn’t listen more closely my dad as he shared stories from his past.

As I age, I believe my aches and pains are calls to step beyond that door of death, a desire to reach eternity and be free of this mortal shell, a wish to be free of sin, its temptation, and the increasing limitations of my flesh. It is a desire to live beyond the grave in that heavenly city God has prepared and Christ is the key that allows believers to enter.