Pray First

Read: Genesis 25:7-8

“Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people,” (Gen 25:8 KJV).  

He died full of years. How many years does a person need to live for that to be said of him or her? The Bible says that Abraham lived 175 years, that he breathed his last, and that he died. Was it the number of years he lived that warranted that description of the end of his life, or was it something else? 

My grandparents all died at older years of life, one in her 70s, one in his 80s, and 2 in their 90s. Yes, they died at a good old age. But did they die full of years? In each of their lives, they shared loving relationships with family and friends, and they followed after God. I can remember spending the night several times with one of my grandmothers and seeing her read her Bible every night before she went to bed. She thought so lovingly of  Jesus that she often referred to him as being so precious. I feel like each of my grandparents died having had a full life.  

Early in Abraham’s adult life, God called him to follow Him wherever he led. It was an invitation to go on a journey wherever God directed him. Abraham was bold and brave enough to say yes to that invitation. God led him into something of a Nomadic way of life. He didn’t live in a walled city, with houses, window boxes, paved streets, and food vendors plentiful. He was a sojourner, living on land that was not his own. Even though it may not have been a way of life he chose for himself, he did see God’s blessings and protection. He saw God keep his promise to him to have a son with his beloved Sarah. He saw the land God promised to give him and his people, a nation of people who would be as many as the stars and would eventually become the nation of Israel, from whom would eventually come the salvation of the world, Jesus. 

Though his life had its share of ups and downs, Abraham lived a life trusting in God and believing him. He met with God and had conversations with God. He wholeheartedly trusted God with his son Isaac and witnessed God provide a ram to sacrifice in place of Isaac.  

It is in this trusting God and believing God that Abraham’s fullness of life is found. His life was complete not because of wealth and possessions but because he had followed the high purpose of trusting and following the Giver of life. 

As he lay weakening on his bed at the end of life, I suppose he took a look back on the whole of his life, remembering his father whom he left at a young age. I’m sure he thought of his beloved Sarah, who had gone on before him, and of his son they waited upon for many years. He must have contemplated the ways God had walked and talked with him and how He had kept His promises. As he drew his last few breaths, maybe he looked back over his years, as God looked back over his week of creation and felt it is good. He left this life satisfied, a man full of years. 

Unfortunately, we can probably all think of godless, cynical people who have left this world without such satisfaction as Abraham. They lived a life selfishly and completely void of God or any thought of Him. I’ve met with some who have sat on their bed nearing the end of life wondering what the point has been, feeling regret and dissatisfaction, yet hoping there is still time to make a change, to make a difference. 

Regardless of age, as long as we’re still drawing breath, we can begin to live a life with the fullness and satisfaction that Abraham felt at his end. But to have this sense of a full life, what is necessary? A long number of years? Do we need to be well-traveled, to scale the slopes of a steep mountain or be the president of a large corporation? Do we need to be married, to be single, to have children, to not?  It’s not these things that are the true purpose or satisfaction for our lives. 

We are not on this earth to live by our own selfish desires. Neither are we here for the sole purpose of being a good person. Our purpose is to glorify God in and with our lives, to become like Christ, and to please him, “that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 15:6 ESV). 

People may think well of you if you are kind, giving, and do good things. But our deeds are not what gives God glory and not what puts us in right standing with God (Eph 2:8-9). When we believe and trust in Jesus as God’s son and our saviour, our reason for living changes. We love and serve others because of God’s love, then He is glorified, not us. 

Whatever path we follow to the end of our lives, whether our life is finished in a short number or long number of years, if it has been one that has sought Christ, made us more like him, and glorified God then it can be said that we have had a life full of years and maybe we will also be known as a friend of God.  

And when we come to the end of our days, it is possible to feel completely satisfied, not so much because of what we have done but because of why we have given of ourselves and why we have absorbed from this life, because of the love of God. 

A quote from Bible scholar Alexander Maclaren offers this hope for us: “It is possible for us to make our lives of such a sort, that whether they run on to the apparent maturity of old age, or whether they are cut short in the midst of our days, we may rise from the table feeling that it has satisfied our desires, met our anticipation, and been all very good.” 

And I would add, according to Ephesians 3: 20, that God can do even more than we anticipate, more than we could ask or imagine. 

At the end of our days, may it be said that we received from God the fullness of life, a life full of years.

 

Worship Song: Lifesong by Casting Crowns

 

Find Tracy on Facebook at Tracy Fields Todd, Writer, and on Instagram at @tracyftodd.