He Calls Himself a Man of God

I met a man who used to be a pastor. He surprised me when he said he wasn't all that eager to enter Heaven: "I'm not trying to go there too soon." Now, that is something that I would normally agree with, because I would be thinking about 1 John 5:16, the sin unto death. But that's not what he meant.

"I want to get to that threescore and ten years that God has promised me."

"God didn't promise anybody threescore and ten."

"Oh, yes, He did!" Milt was counting Psalm 90:10 as a promise of length of years, but, if you read the verses above it, you see that Moses is acknowledging the fact that God is simply putting up with us to keep us here that long. In fact, Moses isn't calling this a long life, but a short life.

I tried to explain to Milt that, in the beginning, God let men live into the 10th century of their lives. Then, when He was preparing to send the Flood, He said that the years would be dropped to 120 (Genesis 6:1-5), and, here in Psalm 90, Moses is saying that we have so taxed God's patience that He again dropped the age to 70, maybe 80.

But he would have none of it. He tried to tell me how many Bible colleges he's been to (three), how long he's been in ministry (33 years), and how many organizations he's a part of (I forgot). But that doesn't change the fact that he doesn't know what he's talking about, AND his greatest hope isn't Heaven, by his own proclamation.

I will probably see him again. He's Shane's spiritual advisor, and he was picking up Shane's wife and children in order to take them to see Shane in the hospital yesterday (Shane had to be sedated because he hates being in the hospital, so the visit was shortened), and he expressed a desire to "put [me] in [my] place" on the ride there.

If you have had any hesitation about praying fervently for Shane, please drop it now.