Is long life a blessing?

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zeroturbulence said:
Ecclessiastes 12:1-7: (Old Age)

Remember your Creator
while you are young,
before the days of trouble come
and the years when you say,
“I find no pleasure in them.”

[SUP]2 [/SUP]When you get old,
the light from the sun, moon, and stars will grow dark;
the rain clouds will never seem to go away.

[SUP]3 [/SUP]At that time your arms will shake
and your legs will become weak.
Your teeth will fall out so you cannot chew,
and your eyes will not see clearly.

[SUP]4 [/SUP]Your ears will be deaf to the noise in the streets,
and you will barely hear the millstone grinding grain.
You’ll wake up when a bird starts singing,
but you will barely hear singing.

[SUP]5 [/SUP]You will fear high places
and will be afraid to go for a walk.
Your hair will become white like the flowers on an almond tree.
You will limp along like a grasshopper when you walk.
Your appetite will be gone.
Then you will go to your everlasting home,
and people will go to your funeral.

[SUP]6 [/SUP]Soon your life will snap like a silver chain
or break like a golden bowl.
You will be like a broken pitcher at a spring,
or a broken wheel at a well.

[SUP]7 [/SUP]You will turn back into the dust of the earth again,
but your spirit will return to God who gave it.
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Ah! Always love reading Ecclesiastes... My heart is smiling!
 
Tinkerbell725 said:
I'm surprised...

A lot of people find Ecclesiastes full of wisdom but also depressing.
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Really? Its in my top 2 fave books in the OT!

Yes, wisdom (of course!), but I also find it puts worldly things into perspective and perhaps oddly freeing.

Sometimes I just look around and say to myself "Smoke. It's all just smoke..."
 
Long life is only a blessing if you make that long life worthwhile. For me personally I'd rather prefer I meaningful short life. Just because I'm afraid of getting old...selfish me I know :)
 
GODisLOVE7 said:
Really? Its in my top 2 fave books in the OT!

Yes, wisdom (of course!), but I also find it puts worldly things into perspective and perhaps oddly freeing.

Sometimes I just look around and say to myself "Smoke. It's all just smoke..."
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Yup...Chasing the wind...everything is useless. Too sad.

What's your top 1 favorite and why? Is it psalms or proverbs?
 
I know someone who said he does not want to grow too old and become a burden to others. But when he became famous and he realized a lot of people love him, he changed his mind. Though he can never be sure everyone truly loves him and not only for what he can give to them.
 
I often think of the elderly folk in my own community who watched me grow up, knew (and were older than) my parents. I look on their frailty and am often concerned about how lonely some of them feel. A great number of them, have children and grandchildren living overseas. I try to visit the mom of a close childhood friend as often as I can and usually take my brother with me. All her children live in the UK. She was so thrilled the one Friday when we told her to dress up and we took her to a Motown classics show at the local theatre. The smile on her face was priceless.

Perhaps in Biblical times older folk remained as an integral part of the family and were in the centre of family life. Many didn't have to face the spectre of children moving to another city or state or to the other side of the globe.

Of course the world is very different today. It is easier to communicate over great distances and specialist care is available for the aged. However it is clear that without personal interaction, growing old must be really hard. Today many find themselves on the fringes as their children try to cope with the growing demands of raising children, careers and nurturing their own families. Think about it: they lose their independence, they have to adjust to declining health - brittle bones and teeth, heart trouble, issues with memory, aches and pains. Many of them get to see less of their families. So this incredible sense of loneliness and uncertainty probably creeps in. must be a really scary transition from great health to frailty and from independence to dependence in some form.
 
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Tinkerbell725 said:
Yup...Chasing the wind...everything is useless. Too sad.

What's your top 1 favorite and why? Is it psalms or proverbs?
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My favourite is the Book of Job, hands down! Usually I find people's favourite books in the Bible are ones where they feel a connection with the experiences. Some people in the Bible we can identify with more than others. Plus I love the flow of how its written.

I do enjoy Psalms very much as well. Soothing for the soul! Proverbs is full of wisdom, so of course another good one!

What's your favourite? And why? :)
 
Wild said:
Long life is only a blessing if you make that long life worthwhile. For me personally I'd rather prefer I meaningful short life. Just because I'm afraid of getting old...selfish me I know :)
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For me, I have my eyes set above... Although I enjoy loving God from here, I'd much rather be home. This world just doesn't seem to satisfy me anymore.

Until then, I do my best to be a light in the world, get picked up and carried by Jesus when I stumble (which is way more often than I'd like to admit) and trust God has a beautiful plan for me on both sides.

Wow, that sounds like a total downer post, but really, I have a ton of joy inside! Just a different kind of joy :)
 
In the early books of the Bible it mentions God taking some lives because He wanted those people with Him.
So sometimes I guess.
I honestly do not want a long life, but whatever Abba has in store for me is better than all my wishes
 
GODisLOVE7 said:
My favourite is the Book of Job, hands down! Usually I find people's favourite books in the Bible are ones where they feel a connection with the experiences. Some people in the Bible we can identify with more than others. Plus I love the flow of how its written.

I do enjoy Psalms very much as well. Soothing for the soul! Proverbs is full of wisdom, so of course another good one!

What's your favourite? And why? :)
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My friend's husband also loves Job that he wrote a book about it.


JOB Unlocked - A Revelation by Mr. Randy Winters, Paperback | Barnes & Noble�


My favorite would be Numbers because the talking donkey is funny. Jk ;)

My favorites in the OT are psalms, proverbs, ecclesiastes, jeremiah and isaiah. We have the same reasons except for isaiah and jeremiah. I like isaiah because of the messages of hope and and the promise of a messiah. Same for jeremiah with the promise of a new covenant although it is also harsh and disturbing.
 
The Bible says that if you honor your father and mother, then you will be blessed with a long life on Earth. It is the first commandment with promise. Exodus 20:12 "Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long..." And Proverbs 20:29 "The glory of young men is their strength: and the beauty of old men is the grey head."
There are the verses about your children and your children's children rising up and calling you blessed. So I think it is a blessing, overall.
 
It depends. If you are still coherent and have your mind and some abilities then yes long life is a blessing but if you can't walk and you've "lost" your mind then no it is not.

My grandma lived to be 102 and she was still completely coherent and witty. Every morning if she felt up to it, she'd walk 100 steps on her manual treadmill. And twice a week she'd sit in our sunroom and had 2 lb weights for her arms and 5 lbs for her legs and worked out to keep her strength up. She had cataracts and very hard of hearing but she always stayed positive and was a blessing towards anyone she came in contact with
 
ManiaStar said:
It depends. If you are still coherent and have your mind and some abilities then yes long life is a blessing but if you can't walk and you've "lost" your mind then no it is not.

My grandma lived to be 102 and she was still completely coherent and witty. Every morning if she felt up to it, she'd walk 100 steps on her manual treadmill. And twice a week she'd sit in our sunroom and had 2 lb weights for her arms and 5 lbs for her legs and worked out to keep her strength up. She had cataracts and very hard of hearing but she always stayed positive and was a blessing towards anyone she came in contact with
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^life goals

God bless her
 
Rachel20 said:
The Bible mentions many times that long life as a blessing. [Ephesians 6:1-3, Proverbs 3:16]

Seeing people suffer in their old age and lose their health and prime abilities makes me wonder if a prolonged stay on earth is really a blessing.

I feel so much for older people, especially those who are alone. Having many conversations with some of them, I discovered many of them actually start wishing for death.

So I just wanted to know what do other Christians feel about this. Do you want to live long?

Do you see it as a blessing?

Your thoughts? :)


PS - The Bible also has many verses where people lament the long life of the wicked. Isaiah 57:1-2 talks about how righteous men are taken away from calamity, even as they perish.
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i would choose to die tonight if the Lord would grant it.
i am vexed daily because of the wickedness that is in the world today.
Die - Sleep - Be with Christ. Can't wait.

^i^

††† In His Holy and Precious Name, Jesus Christ †††

DiscipleDave
 
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