IT'S HOW YOU LIVE THAT COUNTS -- Devotional for March 23, from "Good Seeds"

NOTE TO MY FAITHFUL READERS -- Please excuse my tardiness on entries of late. Our grandchildren have been sleeping in my study, right next to my computer, robbing me of my late night reverie in the Word, not to mention their parents entertaining us with games and movies in that same time slot. We hated to say goodbye to them this morning, but now...to get back on track. Bear with me!

Redeeming the time, for the days are evil. (Ephesians 5:16)

Have you heard this interesting proverb: “Beware of spending too much time making a LIVING, while spending too little time making a LIFE.” And here’s another one: “It isn’t HOW LONG you live, but HOW you live, that counts.” We meet people in the pages of the Bible and of history whose lives exuded pristine character and executed unbelievable accomplishments, even while living surprisingly short lives. The earliest example of this is old Enoch of pre-flood civilization. But he wasn’t all that old! In fact, he went to glory at the extremely youthful age of 365! For a time when life expectancy was three times that, he died in the prime of young adulthood, relatively speaking. It is interesting that his own son, Methuselah, lived longer than anyone else in recorded history, dying at the ripe old age of 969! We know nothing of that old man’s character, but the record shows that his father, Enoch, “walked with God” (Genesis 5:22,24). (By the way, will it also be said of you, when you’ve finally passed into His presence, that you walked with God? Can it be said of you even now?) And when I see how young certain great saints were when they died, men and women who accomplished three times more than many who lived three times longer, I am astounded. It makes me feel guilty for being so healthy and carefree at age 63, while still such a spiritual pygmy and with yet so little to claim as works that might pass the “gold, silver, precious stone” test (I Cor. 3:11-15), when I see by comparison men like David Brainerd, missionary to the Indians, whose candle burned bright for Jesus – but only into his thirties. Or what about Oswald Chambers, writer so prolific and spiritual, mentor of missionaries – who died in his forties (but still he mentors me daily as I reach for “My Utmost For His Highest”)? Then there’s the “Prince of Preachers,” C.H Spurgeon. I have in my library his entire sermon collection: over 20 volumes of 400+ pages each. How did he do it, when he died in his fifties? Yes, how could these men have grown so deep and accomplished so much in so little time, and with so many obstacles? I’m sure I don’t know, but it brings up an almost disturbing point: Even though the Bible does say long life is a happy result of living a good life, and that God cuts some of His saints down in their prime who have become a shame to His name, still, look at all the exceptions. So often “the good die young,” while the profane and crotchety live on and on and on! Which would you prefer: to live a long but useless life, or to enjoy only a brief existence on earth, but in that time sow many seeds for eternity?