Is anyone else out there tired of hearing about resolutions yet? I've already discussed my feeling on resolutions here, here and on New Year's here. Oh my, perhaps I should be tired of writing about this stuff.
Nevertheless, with the start of a new year comes the starting over of everything else as well. One of the things I've started over is the Bible. And I'm just Type-A enough to always start at the beginning. So there I was reading the Table of Nations in Genesis 5. This is where we read about guys living into their 900's. (If you thought your grandparents were old at 80, imagine being a teenager and having to travel to see your 700 year old ancestors.)
Maybe it's because I just got done listening to teens tell me how bored they were over a 2-week Christmas break, but I started wondering how you spend 900 years on Earth.
At first it sounds like a fun idea. After all, you'd be able to finish things like a game of Risk or finish reading War & Peace. You could pick up Peyton Manning's great-great-grandson in your Fantasy Football league, just knowing he'd be great. Heck, even people with a dial-up connection would have more time to download music and movies.
But then I realized these poor guys did not have such things in their life at the time. No internet, no gaming systems, no TV or movies. Why even bother living 900 years, if you call that living? What were they supposed to do, spend time with their family and friends? We read about God limiting our days to 120 years and think of it as a punishment. I think He did us a favor.
I digress, and of course, I jest.
All of this did make me wonder about how we spend our time. After all, 120 years may not be as much as 900, but it is still a lot of time. Rather than spend it being bored, I believe we should take some time to read what the Bible has to say about time and idelness. Then we should spend the rest of our time finding ways to do God-sized stuff.
Reading wisdom of Solomon and Paul would be a good start. Here are just a few;
Anyone else out there have good suggestions for how you spend your time?
Nevertheless, with the start of a new year comes the starting over of everything else as well. One of the things I've started over is the Bible. And I'm just Type-A enough to always start at the beginning. So there I was reading the Table of Nations in Genesis 5. This is where we read about guys living into their 900's. (If you thought your grandparents were old at 80, imagine being a teenager and having to travel to see your 700 year old ancestors.)
Maybe it's because I just got done listening to teens tell me how bored they were over a 2-week Christmas break, but I started wondering how you spend 900 years on Earth.
At first it sounds like a fun idea. After all, you'd be able to finish things like a game of Risk or finish reading War & Peace. You could pick up Peyton Manning's great-great-grandson in your Fantasy Football league, just knowing he'd be great. Heck, even people with a dial-up connection would have more time to download music and movies.
But then I realized these poor guys did not have such things in their life at the time. No internet, no gaming systems, no TV or movies. Why even bother living 900 years, if you call that living? What were they supposed to do, spend time with their family and friends? We read about God limiting our days to 120 years and think of it as a punishment. I think He did us a favor.
I digress, and of course, I jest.
All of this did make me wonder about how we spend our time. After all, 120 years may not be as much as 900, but it is still a lot of time. Rather than spend it being bored, I believe we should take some time to read what the Bible has to say about time and idelness. Then we should spend the rest of our time finding ways to do God-sized stuff.
Reading wisdom of Solomon and Paul would be a good start. Here are just a few;
Proverbs 31:27, Ecclesiastes 10:18, Ecclesiastes 11:6, 1 Thessalonians 5:14, 2 Thessalonians 3:6, 2 Thessalonians 3:7, 2 Thessalonians 3:11, 1 Timothy 5:13.
Anyone else out there have good suggestions for how you spend your time?
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