Dying Before Our Time

My dad is a constant source of inspiration to me. He faithfully reads my blogs (I also post this blog on blogspot every day) and often sends me articles that he thinks I can use. A recent conversation with a family friend triggered some pondering for my dad, which prompted an e-mail from him yesterday. When I read it, I told him that he had just inspired another blog :-). Here's part of what he wrote:

Last week, when we were in Illinois, [our friend] asked us what we thought about Ecclesiastes 7:17 “why die before your time.” She thinks her husband (a life time smoker) died prematurely because he smoked. I had never considered this verse before, but this morning I started studying and I think [she] made a good point!

I have always held strong to the thought that God has ordained my number of days: Psalm 139:16 (NIV) “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” Does that mean that no matter how I live, my time to die is set in stone? I don’t think so!

Take a look at Ecclesiastes 7:17-18 (NIV). “Do not be overwicked, and do not be a fool—why die before your time?...the man who fears God will avoid all extremes.”

Can our “extremes” shorten our time on earth? Job 14:5 states: “Man's days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed.” We can’t exceed our time; but, can we shorten our life time by excessive eating, drinking, drugs, etc?

Like my dad, I believe that God has ordained our days (you may or may not believe that). The question is, do you believe that your life can be shortened by unhealthy habits? I don't know about you, but I want to live as long as possible, and I want those days to be healthy and active. I want to watch my four grandchildren grow up - I want to celebrate their high school and college graduations and I want to dance at their weddings and hold their babies. Lord willing, there is a lot of joy in the future and I don't want to miss out on any of it due to choices that I make (or don't make) today.

There have been too many studies that directly link obesity to a host of diseases, diseases that may well shorten our lives and most certainly will diminish the quality of our lives. It can be hard to think about the distant future when we're faced with the immediate temptation of our favorite off-plan food, especially when we have the choice between immediate gratification or something that will not be fully realized for decades. It's hard to think long term, but it's a good idea to think about how we want our lives to be years from now. If we keep doing what we're doing, where will be in five years? What about ten years? How will the habits we're developing and refining now play out in our lives ten or twenty years from now?

The choices we make today matter - they really do. Choose wisely :-)