Plastic Surgery

A few years ago an 82 year old woman in America had major cosmetic surgery involving a face lift, botox injections to smooth out the wrinkles, lip re-sculpting, and much much more. It all had required seven hours of surgery and had cost $25,000. When she was asked why in the world she would do this, she replied that there was no point in waiting until she got any older.

Somewhere on our planet today, according to scientists, is a child who they say will still be alive 150 – 180 years from now. That sounds so incredible until, according to the same scientists, we consider how our lifespan has increased over the years.

When Jesus died at around age 33, He would have been pretty old for that part of the world. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the average lifespan  was 49 and many women died in childbirth. Many more people died of disease. If they lived to be 60, they were pretty old. If someone died in 1965 at the age of 74 it was considered relatively old for that time, but now the average lifespan is just over 81 years of age. The retirement age is being pushed up and there are people in their 80’s who are running marathons.  

Let us go back to our child for just a moment and consider what we could do if we lived to be 180 years old. We could take more holidays. We could spend more time at the office or place of work. We could plant a bigger garden or plan for a longer retirement. Maybe instead of planting a garden, we could plant trees and expect to see them grow to maturity. As amazing as all of that is, I am not sure that lifespan is all that important. I am not at all sure that we should be so concerned about the length of our years. It seems to me that we ought to be more concerned with the way we live in the years we have; and  the state of our souls than the length of our years.  

Are we just spending more time on earth, or are we spending more time trying to love God? The prophet Isaiah speaks about loving God like a new bride delights in her husband. What if we spent more time trying to love God like that? Will there ever be enough time to love God like that? Will we ever take the time to love God like that?  

The more I think about it, the more it seems to me that it does not much matter how much time we humans have, because we remain essentially the same.

Remember that the 20th century was dominated by war, genocide, and the absence of sustained peace between nations. Sadly, the 21st century is not looking to be much better. We have not really increased in decency or morality in proportion to the lengthening of our years.  

Whether we live to be 50 or 150, our spiritual goal ought to remain the same as it was in the time of Isaiah…....to pursue eternal life and salvation through our commitment to and our love of God.  Isaiah also says that our souls are like gardens. We all know that gardens with rich soil produce abundant growth, but the soil must be worked, tilled, and turned. The plants must be tended. Gardens with ill-worked, poor soil produce little growth and bitter taste.

It does not matter how long the garden has existed. Unless we care for it, it will fail. Weeds will choke it. Blights will infect it. Insects will eat it and the produce will be worthless. The expectation of God is that, whether our lives end at 50 or extend to 150, we will live a dedicated life always seeking God, just as a plant always seeks light from the sun.

DAILY MESSAGES WITH MEANING (10/10/24)

Written by PETER FRANCIS 

All photos courtesy of Unsplash