Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Eber lived after the birth of Peleg four hundred thirty years.”
NL Daily Devotion for Friday, September 14, 2018
By Rcragun - Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7993094
by Dr. Kimberly Leetch, Clergy Stuff
Did you notice how old these people were?! Some lived 430 years! I'm not planning to live a day after 390, myself.
Seriously, though, life spans in modern times are lengthening. (Not 430 years, but certainly more than the 35 years average life span of people living in the 1700s.) My generation's life span is about 70 years. My grandkids will be more like 79 years. (Some projections even put my kids' life span to 84 years!) That's quite a jump, wouldn't you say?
Let's think about this for a minute. If you expected to live to about 35 and got married at, say, 16, you'd be married about 19 years. If now, you expect to live to about 84 and get married at, say, 24, you'll be married 60 years. Now, I would never suggest that people not stay married just because 60 years is a really, really, really, really, really long time. But it does give us pause to think about how we approach marriage when we're looking at 2/3 of our life span. Or career, for that matter. Or debt. Or great-grandparenting. There's a lot to consider when life span increases from 35-80!
We can look at our lives, not just as a singular timeline, but as a series of seasons. When we break it down by the seasons of our lives (each will be different -- one, for example, might include childhood / young adulthood / married life / early parenting / parenting teens / empty nesting / second career / retirement / second retirement), we can set different goals and shift our expectations based on the goals we set. My marriage will be vastly different in the "married life" stage than in the "parenting teens" stage. When I set my goals accordingly, I will have something to look forward to at every stage.
My life might be long (or short, depending on how you look at it). I intend to make the most of every minute of it!
Narrative Lectionary Daily Reading:
Genesis 11:10-26
These are the descendants of Shem. When Shem was one hundred years old, he became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood; and Shem lived after the birth of Arpachshad five hundred years, and had other sons and daughters. When Arpachshad had lived thirty-five years, he became the father of Shelah; and Arpachshad lived after the birth of Shelah four hundred three years, and had other sons and daughters. When Shelah had lived thirty years, he became the father of Eber; and Shelah lived after the birth of Eber four hundred three years, and had other sons and daughters. When Eber had lived thirty-four years, he became the father of Peleg; and Eber lived after the birth of Peleg four hundred thirty years, and had other sons and daughters. When Peleg had lived thirty years, he became the father of Reu; and Peleg lived after the birth of Reu two hundred nine years, and had other sons and daughters. When Reu had lived thirty-two years, he became the father of Serug; and Reu lived after the birth of Serug two hundred seven years, and had other sons and daughters. When Serug had lived thirty years, he became the father of Nahor; and Serug lived after the birth of Nahor two hundred years, and had other sons and daughters. When Nahor had lived twenty-nine years, he became the father of Terah; and Nahor lived after the birth of Terah one hundred nineteen years, and had other sons and daughters. When Terah had lived seventy years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
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