In part one of this article, we did see that death is the inevitable destination of our journey on earth, yet serves as a passage from one realm of living to another. Everyone has been allotted a time to live (Eccl. 3:3) called a life span. You can live in such a way as to have your days consumed, cut off or prolonged and multiplied. The Bible questions, “Why should you die before your time?” (Eccl. 7:17)
In the second part, we examined reasons why people die before their time. We saw from the Word of God factors that pose themselves as major hindrances to people living out their full days on earth.
In this last segment, we are looking into keys to fulfilling and prolonging your days.
If one could actually lengthen his days, what does it take?
1. Honour Your Father and Mother
'Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may be well with you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you. (DEUT. 5:16)
"Honor your father and mother," which is the first commandment with promise:
"that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth." (EPH. 6:2-3)
You can honour your parents by giving them their rightful place in your life. Honour them by revering them. Honour them also with your substance, not just because they are in need, but because it is your Covenant obligation, as a child of God. Take care of your parents, especially in their old age. Taking your place and fulfilling your God-given responsibilities will release the blessing of God for a long, fruitful, prosperous, healthy, peaceful and fulfilling life.
It does not matter if your parents have been irresponsible or abusive. It’s not your place to retaliate or treat them the way they treated you. Do your part, and leave the rest to God. This will move God to bless you and prolong your days.
2. The Fear of the Lord
“The fear of the LORD prolongs days, but the years of the wicked will be shortened.” (PROV. 10:27)
When you fear somebody, you do his bidding. When you fear a person, you wouldn’t want to offend or upset him. You would want to please him.
The Bible says
“The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate.” (PROV. 8:13)
Also scripture points out that the fear of the Lord makes men stop iniquity.
“In mercy and truth atonement is provided for iniquity; and by the fear of the LORD one departs from evil.” (PROV. 16:6)
When you hate what the Lord hates, then you can safely say that you fear Him.
Because the Lord loves righteousness and hates iniquity, when you do the same, there is an anointing that will lift you out of the commonplace life, far above the plight and position of ordinary folks. The epidemic that destroys countless number of people will be destroyed before you. What has killed others will die before you. Read Psalms 45:6-7
3. Wisdom
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
For by me your days will be multiplied, and years of life will be added to you. (PROV. 9:10-11)
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. So when you exhibit the fear of God, you are setting your feet on the paths of divine wisdom.
What is this wisdom? It is the right application of knowledge. What knowledge? The knowledge of God, of course. When you apply in your life, the things that you know about God from His Word, that is wisdom. Fashioning your life according to the Word of God is the wisdom that will bring God’s blessings in your life.
And the Bible has this to say about wisdom with respect to enjoying a long life.
Happy is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding;
For her proceeds are better than the profits of silver, and her gain than fine gold.
She is more precious than rubies, and all the things you may desire cannot compare with her.
Length of days is in her right hand, in her left hand riches and honor. (PROV. 3:13-16)
Instead of singling out long life as an agenda and pursuing it, Solomon took hold of wisdom, and auspiciously, it had long life wrapped in it (1Kings 3:11-14)
That’s why he could confidently teach that wisdom is the principal thing, the greatest of all pursuits. One that gets it will truly be happy (Proverbs 4:7).
Knowing the next step to take and the next move to make is also wisdom. By the wisdom of God, you will not make foolish decisions and take wrong steps that will lead you to destruction.
There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death (PROV. 16:25).
4. The Word
My son, do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commands;
For length of days and long life and peace they will add to you. (PROV. 3:1-2)
By following the Word, walking in it, obeying and practicing it, you are assured of a long life characterized by peace. Not days full of troubles and all kinds of misfortune.
Hear, my son, and receive my sayings, and the years of your life will be many (PROV. 4:10).
When the children of Israel were marching to the Promised Land, God promised them long life upon their keeping His commandments.
"You shall therefore keep His statutes and His commandments which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which the LORD your God is giving you for all time."
"You shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess. (DEUT. 4:40; 5:33)
Over and over again you find God reiterating the fact that they needed to walk in line with the Word that they may live long. Long life is directly connected to obedience to the Word of God.
Therefore you shall keep every commandment which I command you today, that you may be strong, and go in and possess the land which you cross over to possess,
and that you may prolong your days in the land which the LORD swore to give your fathers, to them and their descendants, 'a land flowing with milk and honey.'
Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.
And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,
that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, like the days of the heavens above the earth.
(DEUT. 11:8-9, 18-21)
The Promised Land for us as New Testament believers is a state of being where the promises of God – like healing, prosperity, baptism of the Holy spirit, Peace, etc – are made real in our lives.
By going into the Word of God, claiming all the promises, including long life, this will bring you into living in the Promised Land.
You need to understand the power and prominence of the Word of God. God and His Word are one. Let’s take a look at these two scriptures:
That you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them." (DEUT. 30:20)
Here, it is said that God is your life and the length of your days. So you need to love Him, obey His voice and cling to Him. By so doing, you will dwell in the land the Lord has given you. Deut. 30:20 (NIV) says “and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”
But what does it mean to obey His voice but that you obey His Word? In fact, because God and His Word are one, you cannot love, honour or obey God more than you love, honour or obey the Word of God. That’s why Moses again exhorts us to really give heed to the Word as we would God, for it gives us the same effects.
Moses finished speaking all these words to all Israel,
and He said to them: "Set your hearts on all the words which I testify among you today, which you shall command your children to be careful to observe-- all the words of this law.
"For it is not a futile thing for you, because it is your life, and by this word you shall prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess." (DEUT. 32:45-47)
Earlier, it was said that God is your life. Now it is said that this Word is your life, and by this Word you shall prolong your days on the earth.
That was the promise made to Solomon, only if he would walk in the ways of the Lord and keep the Lord’s precepts.
“So if you walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.” (1 KINGS 3:14)
Get into the Word. Study it. Meditate on it. Obey it. Practice it. It is your life.
5.Integrity & Honesty
You shall not have in your bag differing weights, a heavy and a light.
You shall not have in your house differing measures, a large and a small.
You shall have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure, that your days may be lengthened in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.
For all who do such things, all who behave unrighteously, are an abomination to the Lord your God. (DEUT. 25:13-16)
Don’t be a cheat or a fraud. This kind of life does not pay in the long run. Why must you die before your time? (Eccl 7:17).
LORD, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill?
He who walks uprightly, and works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart;
He who does not backbite with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor does he take up a reproach against his friend;
In whose eyes a vile person is despised, but he honors those who fear the LORD; he who swears to his own hurt and does not change;
He who does not put out his money at usury, nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved. (PSALMS 15:1-5)
6.Kindness
If a bird's nest happens to be before you along the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, with the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young;
you shall surely let the mother go, and take the young for yourself, that it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days. (DEUT. 22:6-7)
One may wonder the connection between being nice to a bird and living a long life. When God said to allow the ox that treads the grain to eat as it works, Paul later said it wasn’t particularly about the animal as the fact that God was laying a principle down.
For it is written in the law of Moses, "You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain." Is it oxen God is concerned about?
Or does He say it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written, that he who plows should plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope. (1 COR. 9:9-10)
So in this scripture, it is not just about the bird as much as it is about having a compassionate disposition.
“A righteous man regards the life of his animal, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.” (PROV. 12:10)
One other version puts this verse in a better light.
“Good people are kind to their animals, but a mean person is cruel.” (Prov 12:10, CEV)
If you can be kind to animals – of all beings – then it wouldn’t be difficult to extend the same kindness to a fellow human, whether they deserve it or not.
There’s something about having an attitude of kindness that draws the heart of God towards you and prolongs your life. Be kind today.
7. The Service of God
So you shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take sickness away from the midst of you.
No one shall suffer miscarriage or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days. (EXOD. 23:25-27)
There is something extremely wonderful about serving God that gets God committed to keeping you alive so you can go on serving Him. He will protect you. He will guide you. He will sustain you. He will keep you safe and secure from all harm.
They shall be Mine," says the LORD of hosts, "On the day that I make them My jewels. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him."
Then you shall again discern between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him. (MAL. 3:17-18)
Get busy doing God’s business. Pray, evangelize, exhort, sing, just make sure you’re doing something productive and resourceful in His Kingdom.
But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them,
I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. (DEUT. 30:17-18)
8. Speaking Life
You can’t fill your language and vocabulary with words of death and expect to reap life. Death and life are in the power of the tongue. What has been proceeding from your tongue? The words you release are seeds you are sowing into your destiny, when they are full grown and mature, you’ll reap the harvest.
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” PROV. 18:21)
It’s rather unfortunate that most of our local language phraseology are interspersed with words of death. Our idiomatic expressions, figures of speech, adages, and so on: He thrilled us to death with his jokes. If I get home late, my Dad will kill me. I’m dead, etc.
You can’t simply go on rattling just anything that comes out of your mouth. “Oh, it was just a joke. I never meant what I’m saying.” My friend, you better say what you mean and mean what you say. Words are spiritual substances. They are tangible. They are living entities. They operate based on principles. In the spirit realm, jokes are not recognized. Your intention is not decoded. Your words set in motion a programme that produces results, positive or negative. By your words, you are either justified or condemned (Mt. 12:37). You are snared or taken by your words (Prov. 6:2)
Take, for example, a little child playing with a shot gun. By pulling the trigger jokingly doesn’t mean it won’t fire. He might be joking, and go ahead and kill someone jokingly. Words are like that, like the bullet in a gun. The bullet doesn’t know when the trigger is pulled intentionally, jokingly or otherwise.
In fact, a woman took her 2-year old toddler to a supermarket in the US recently – December 2014. The child, while playing with his mother’s purse, pulled out a gun and fired at the mother, killing her.
You need to be more contemplative before speaking. Speak intentionally and deliberately. Stop speaking perverse things with your mouth. This is not to say you should never share a joke, just make sure it’s healthy, because there are jokes the Bible said are not convenient (Eph 5:4).
Who is the man who desires life, and loves many days, that he may see good?
Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit.
Depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. (PSA. 34:12-14)
9. Walking in Love
God had said to the children of Israel that by hearkening to His commandments and doing them, their days would be long, as the days of heaven upon the earth. What are His commandments? Every instruction in the Bible is part of His commandments. But to the children of Israel, He was specifically referring to the 10 commandments. But all the commandments are summed up in Love.
Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.
For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," "You shall not bear false witness," "You shall not covet," and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. (ROM. 13:8-10)
The 10 commandments were not given to us. For us in the New Testament, the only commandment given us is love.
"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” (JOHN 13:34)
As long as you walk in love, you will enjoy a long, fruitful life.
Walking in love enables you to live a stress-free, tension-free life, devoid of bitterness, rancour, unforgiveness and the resultant negative effects like oppression, depression and the likes.
Irrespective of what anybody has done to you, or how people have acted towards you; it doesn’t even matter how they have treated you. For your own good just walk on, loving God, loving people around and enjoying your life.
