Proverbs 3:16 Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honor. So far from being true that good men, women, and children die sooner than others, the reverse is actually the case. As wickedness acts as a shortener of life, so does a regard for God's wholesome laws help to lengthen it. It is an unnatural thing for one to desire to die before he has finished his work on earth. It cannot be wrong in us to love life, when God promises it to His children as a special blessing. It is easy to discover why religion is conducive to length of days. Obedient children will be most likely to avoid the vices and crimes which shorten life. The love of life is not peculiar to man as a fallen being. Why do we desire that "length of days" should be our portion? I. BECAUSE LIFE IS PLEASANT, AND THE WORLD, IN SPITE OF SEASONS OF CLOUDS AND STORMS, IS A BEAUTIFUL ONE. Illustrate by the summer landscape. We love life for its many comforts and enjoyments. Who can estimate the pleasures of the family circle, the genial intercourse of friends, the cultivation of refinement and taste, the peculiar satisfaction which attends literary labours, the accumulation of property as a provision against the season of old age, and that we bear our part in works of beneficence and charity? II. BECAUSE IT IS A SEASON OF USEFULNESS. III. BECAUSE THROUGH LENGTH OF DAYS ON EARTH, WE MAY BE THE BETTER PREPARED TO MEET GOD. Eternity alone is the real life-time of the soul. A life without a purpose is utterly unworthy of him on whom God has bestowed mental gifts and the gift of immortality. (John N. Norton.) Parallel Verses KJV: Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour.WEB: Length of days is in her right hand. In her left hand are riches and honor. |
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