Is long life a blessing?

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This is a kind of thread i was thinking about and searching on recently.
 
This is a kind of thread i was thinking about and searching on recently. But i didnt see it right away because it's tucked in the Singles forum. I often visit the Misc. and Prayer, and occasional others when a title or post catches my attention. I esp appreciate those who (will) post who have had a long life (and 50, 60, 70 are all long enough, are they not?) or who deal with the elderly. I have seen a grandpa outlive his wife by several yrs, and i just wondered as a young girl. Like him, my father passed away in his 80s, but my grandma (lola, in our dialect; this grandpa's wife) passed away at abt 71 only, and i never imagined my own parents going into their 80s. I was young when lola died, and thot 71 was already old... but now i see more and more older ppl coping with life who i did not use to see before.
There! i miss the edit time by a second-- so the 'repost.'
 
Angela53510 said:
I will admit on bad pain days, I have wondered if I would like to go home to God, sooner than later. But I do love this life God has given us, and I want more than anything in the world, to see my grandchildren grow up. I want to continue to babysit them, even if hubby has to do most of the work. (Hey! I read stories really well - that's my gift!) And share the love of Jesus with them, because their parents don't seem to be doing the job!

Right now in Canada, our parliament has been writing new legislation to allow assisted "dying." I call it assisted suicide. The plan was to make it totally open, so even a depressed teenager could asked to be killed. Fortunately a lot of Christians stood against it. You have to be terminally ill to die, is what finally passed.

As someone who worked in long term care, I found the better answer to be palliative care for the dying. There isn't enough funding to do it properly in Canada, but that money will now be channeled into ways and means to kill people.

I find the whole concept shocking. In the Netherlands and Belgium, where they have had this a long time, the nurses just kill patients they don't think should live. No requests from the patient or family and no doctors. The number of people dying has increased tremendously in those countries. That is the slippery slope!

When my father was actively dying, the doctor tried to kill him with meds. My sister and I wouldn't allow it, so she took herself off the case. We got an actual palliative care doctor, who was very helpful and reassuring. I was there daily for my dad for 5 months. During that time my husband and I led him to the Lord.

Then what happens to doctors, nurses and institutions who will not do the killing, because of conscience or ethics? Do they get put in jail, or fired? Do the institutions lose their funding? It's almost worse than abortion! At least those doctors want to do the abortions. But to be in a geriatric ward, and get told you have to kill people when you signed up for medicine to save lives and help people is pretty appalling!

Wait, this isn't about assisted suicide? Sorry for the rant! As a disabled old person, I worry that they will kill me at some point when the meds don't work and I am whining about the pain. So that is my excuse as to why I brought it up!
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I was rereading this thread... and also von's verse below: (Cant copy and paste)
http://christianchat.com/bible-discussion-forum/36862-long-life.html

Angela, we just know God knows what is best for you. So much uncertainty, but after all His faithfulness and goodness to you...
 
This life is just a blink of an eye, compared to eternity. If we run the good race, in the end it will not matter. No matter our days. life is a blessing. if we were never here, we would not get to be with the Lord.
 
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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GOD is but are not and won't ever will
 
If I were 110 I'd probably want them to go away and leave me alone too. They were lucky she didn't have a pistol and pop a camera just to chase them away.
 
I am still young and yet as an old person I find myself longing for death not because I am depressed but for several reasons my body is always in such bad shape I am tired of being tired all the time tired of being in pain and hardships that make everything so hard for me and honestly I am homesick I want to be in my fathers arms and I want to have and know him to my greedy hearts content.

However as long as he chooses to let me live I will live for him I don't know how long this path is or when it will end but if I should ever meet death I will greet him with joy as I know where I will go
 
Longevity is a blessing for some, it just depends on the quality of life and how you age.

I've met elderly folks who are absolutely miserable, and others on the end of the spectrum who still enjoy their lives and work, maintain their fitness, travel the world, serve in their communities, and such.
 
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.
 
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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How very fitting
 
I had a teacher in 8th grade once who told all of us students that you couldn't pay her to go back to being our ages.

In my teenage brain, I thought she was just a nut.

I totally understand now.
 
Wonder how good old Methuselah would have answered this question.
 
Before the Flood it seems they had a much different kind of life.
 
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.
Click to expand...

... depends on how a person lives.. longevity is a blessing, but if a person is not serving God, and not in Christ, it might not be seen as a blessing.... Blessings truly become manifest when the receiver starts to react and acknowledge the gifts they get from God... A person can indeed be blessed with a long life, but if they have no relationship with Christ, they just lived for a long time without ever learning what that gift was for, or even what their own purpose is.... however, for the one who sees the blessings, and is in Christ, their life will be amazing period, no matter how long or short their life is... that extended life is meant to grow in Christ and form a relationship, and to build it up and the kingdom by doing HIS will.
 
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