Set against eighty years, sixty years may seem short. But I daresay that, to some, sixty years may seem like several lifetimes. I was born in 1948, the same year that the modern State of Israel was born, and I have just seen my sixtieth birthday, in the very same month, as a matter of fact, in which Bro. Joe Banta turned eighty.
I can echo Bro. Joe’s words: “How could ____ years have gone by so fast!” But the Bible tells us why:
“Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. You turn men back to dust, saying, ‘Return to dust, O sons of men.’ For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night” (Psa 90:2-4).
It is a sobering thought: even the mountains are not necessarily “everlasting”. They have had beginnings, and growth and change. If enough time passes — or if they are the subject of some cataclysm, like a great flood or earthquake — then they will have endings as well. But the LORD God Himself is everlasting. Seen from His perspective (and that is the perspective of the Bible), nothing of God’s created world is assured of an eternal existence, at least in its present form.
The Bible tells us that man, especially, is created out of the “dust” of the earth (Gen 2:7), and that, one day, he will return to that very same “dust” (Gen 3:19; Eccl 3:20; 12:7). When we are in the midst of that journey, somewhere between the womb and the tomb, the road may seem so long, stretching out endlessly in front of us, with so many paths to explore, and so many possibilities. But to the LORD, who knows eternity — in fact, who lives in and “inhabits” “eternity” (Isa 57:15) — the longest human life must surely appear no longer than the short dash engraved on the cemetery marker: “Here lies,” let us say, “Mr. X (1839 — 1898).” A whole lifetime lies there, in the confines of that little dash carved in stone: growth, childhood, education, career, love, marriage, family, sorrow, suffering, joy, accomplishment, longing, frustration, failure, disappointment, old age, decline, regret, and satisfaction. But it comes so quickly to its end, and then the curtain falls.
Never mind sixty or eighty years, or even a hundred. The psalmist says that even “a thousand years”, in God’s sight, is no more than a single day. And what is one day to us, one out of thousands? But suppose we had only one day? One day in which to do everything that we will ever do — like the little mayfly, that must pack a full adult life into a single 24-hour period, or two at most. How our perceptions change!
Then again, the psalmist says that “a thousand years” may seem like a mere “watch in the night”, a few hours gazing through the darkness, squinting to make out shape and meaning. Then the long, long sleep comes.
“You sweep men away in the sleep of death; they are like the new grass of the morning — though in the morning it springs up new, by evening it is dry and withered” (Psa 90:5,6).
The hot, dry winds of the desert and the relentless rays of the sun may, in one day, turn green grass into brown straw. “All men are like grass,” says Isaiah; “the people are grass”, and “grass withers” (Isa 40:6-8a). On the other hand, “the Word of our God,” he adds — that alone “stands forever” (v 8b).
There is but one meaningful conclusion to such sobering thoughts:
“Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psa 90:12).
If the Word of God (including the Eternal Purpose embodied in that Word) is truly the one thing that “stands forever”, then what else can we do that is even remotely as important as gaining wisdom from that Word? How else should we spend our days — our brief span of time — than in seeking and acquiring that wisdom, and molding our hearts by it? It is a tragedy of the highest order that so few realize this. We may think that we can with little or no effort position ourselves to glide effortlessly into God’s eternal Kingdom, like pampered passengers on a luxury cruise. Let us all grow up and put away such foolish thoughts. Let us wake up to the magnitude of our opportunities and responsibilities. Let us earnestly seek the true wisdom, like the pearl of great price.
This advice is the same, for the child as well as the adult. However, it is in the nature of things that older ones may more readily grasp its truth, and its absolute importance, as they progress further along their all-too-brief journeys.
Our perceptions of time do change as we grow older. I well remember Bro. Joe, along with Sis. Marie, visiting our ecclesia occasionally when I was a youngster. And finally, when I was about to go off to college in Austin, where they lived, they especially invited me to Bible classes — often preceded by dinner — in their home. These visits became regular occurrences, and were most welcome to a young, and generally hungry, student.
I can recall that, as a teenager, I thought, ‘What a pleasant older couple.’ The measure of my perception of time, and relative age, is this: only twenty years later it dawned on me, with a shock, that they had been no older, at that earlier time, than I had so quickly become! And that I didn’t feel, at the age of 38 or 39, anything like an older brother, pleasant or otherwise! Just a few years thereafter, it occurred to me that they had by then grown only a very little older than I. And my perception remains to this day as regards Joe, although Marie has passed away. I fully expect that, one day soon, Joe and I will be the same age! So it goes.
So, perhaps, it should be with those who are siblings, children of the same Father. Each believer’s personal experiences will be somewhat different. Those of diverse ages may see some aspects of their world differently. But regardless of such minor differences, they share with one another, but with no others, the special experience of being a child of God, in its uniqueness and its blessing, its privilege and its comfort. It may be said that, in some hard-to-define way, children of God may begin to develop a sense of the eternal life that is uniquely God’s life — even while still shackled with mortality. They may begin intuitively to see the outlines of a life measured not in months and years, but in faith and hope.
There is scarcely anything more gratifying than seeing younger saints and older saints in sweet fellowship with one another, grandparents and grandchildren sharing their lives in love. The young interested in the memories of the old, and the old interested in the plans of the young. The young displaying wisdom more often associated with gray heads. The old showing a joy in life, and a hope for the future that belies their “calendar age”. A “Naomi” and a “Ruth” supporting and encouraging one another. A “Paul” and a “Timothy” working side by side, as true yokefellows. It is then that we see how pointless it is to worry about getting older (what’s the alternative?), or thinking of a “generation gap”.
In the sight of our heavenly Father, we are all young children. In the shadow of His everlasting “wings”, and in the embrace of His everlasting “arms” (Deut 33:27), we can be nothing but His children. In the light of eternity, we are all the same age: we are all “little ones” who belong to their Father.
One day, “age” will truly be only a meaningless number. One day, by the grace of God, we will all be the same age absolutely — for we will all be thankfully, joyfully, eternally young!
“Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isa 40:30,31).
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One