Genesis 5:3 (NKJV)

‘And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.’

May our lives and ministries so perfectly resemble Christ that if we reproduce in our likeness and image, it will be nothing different from Christ, in every way. However, the reality is that because we do not always perfectly display God’s image, there remains the grave danger of reproducing men, in our image and likeness, which is not perfectly that of Christ.

Beware therefore of calling men to follow you unless you are totally dead to Self. It is actually safer to call men to follow the image of the Jesus revealed in Scriptures, thereby keeping them safe, than calling men to be like you, which may only be the marred version of the image of Jesus. It takes humility to keep men focused on Jesus and not you.

‘Lord, how I crave the boldness to call men to follow me and to see in me, the very image I am pointing them to in Scriptures. But humility demands that I keep their eyes focused on Jesus, even as I keep my eyes on Jesus. And when it pleases you to present me as an example for men to follow, then give me the authority and boldness to do so, under your leadership and conviction. Amen.’

Genesis 5:5 (NKJV)

‘So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years; and he died.’

There are very few common denominators amongst men but one sure factor that cuts across all humanity is death. Although we fear death so much, it will surely come and it may come when we least expect it. For Adam, he lived a very long life (nine hundred and thirty years) but eventually he had to die. Chapter 5 chronicles several others who lived very long: Seth (verse 8), Enosh (verse 11), Cainan (verse 14), Mahalalel (verse 17), Jared (verse 20), Methuselah (verse 27) and Lamech (verse 31). But they all eventually died, after their long years of pilgrimage on earth.

Since we cannot escape death despite living long lives, it behooves us to always think carefully and deeply about the next phase, after this life. Let’s not join the bandwagon of those whose primary focus is to live long and not die, as though living long in itself was a success. Real success cannot be measured by how long you lived on earth but where you end up after your long life here. Your destination is a critical part of your journey; indeed, without a clear destination, you cannot have a good journey.

Let’s keep our destination in mind and not simply enjoy the journey.

‘Lord, long life is not my measurement of success nor my primary desire from you. I want to walk with you in such a way that when the day of death comes, I will fear nothing because I know what awaits me on the other side. Teach me not to desire long life but a sure destination at the end of the day. This is my cry, in Jesus name. Amen.’