Acts 13:36 “Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed. NIV
I have tried to understand what God think about some of the terms we use in our conversations from a new testament perspective. My own conclusion may not be conventional. One of such terms is 'long life'. Humanly speaking, long life means to live for many years while 'premature death' refers to not living out life in full. Both also have biblical backing. However, the question is, 'how do we measure long life'? Which is the most important, 'purposeful life' or 'lengthy days'? These are deep questions that will always raise opinions and counter opinion. It would be good we look critically into the word to see how God think about these things. Jesus Christ our Lord started ministry at the age of 30 and he did the father's perfect will. He fulfilled all that was written about him. At 33 plus, he died and returned to heaven having finished his assignment.
John the Baptist assignment was to prepare the way of the Lord. His divine assignment was to show or announce the Messiah to Israel. He had an announcement ministry. We may not be able to tell the exact age at which he died but I'm pretty sure he wasn't more than 33-34 years of age before he was beheaded. These two bible figures are good examples of the subject we are discussing because they lived out their prophetic purposes and it was never written about them that they died pre maturely. I wouldn't know how old Apostle Paul was when he died, but he was not too old by our standard because theologians agree he died around age 61 or 64. Yet, he made a profound statement that made me know he was fulfilled regardless of his age, he said, 'I have fought the good fight of faith, I have FINISHED the race... ' (2Tim4:7). Apostle Paul knew when he got to the touch line and he declared his own exit. Getting to heaven, he wouldn't be seen as a soldier sent home untimely. As far as God is concerned, it is not about duration but donation. It is not about length of life but quality of life.
Understanding eternal perspective on issues is very vital in our walk with God. Most times, human perspective on issues is the opposite of God's perspective. When a believer sleep in the Lord, we call it a loss but heaven call it a gain. We say goodbye to the departed but heaven says welcome home. We sometimes see it as a lost battle having fought for life but God calls it transition to glory and victory over death. Until we start thinking like this, we wouldn't stop mourning like the world does. So in my quest to define what it means to live long, I came across Acts13:36 and I concluded that life is measured by how well we find purpose and fulfill it. The only man we should weep for uncontrollably is the man that died without Christ and those that didn't fulfill their God-given assignment. Our assignment on earth may not be noisy or loud. It is good we leave God to determine whether those that have departed have fulfilled their assignment or not. David served God's purpose and he slept... that should be our desire as well. To serve the father's purpose to the fullest and sleep.
father, I receive grace to fulfill the reason for my coming to this world In Jesus name.