Dr. Charles Mayo of the renowned Mayo Clinic wrote, “Worry affects the circulation, the heart, the glands and the whole nervous system. I have never met a man or known a man to die of overwork, but I have known a lot who died of worry.” We live in a day when people worry about how long they will live. That’s a harmful practice because you can worry yourself to death, but not to life.
In (Matthew 6:27)Jesus said that worry cannot “add a single cubit” to a person’s life span. A cubit was the distance from the elbow to the tips of the fingers-about eighteen inches. He was saying,
“Which of you by worrying can lengthen your life?” Exercise and good health can help you function better while you’re living your span, but you can’t worry yourself into a longer life.
The quest for living longer is not new. In the early sixteenth century, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon set out to find the fountain of youth, a spring whose waters had the power to restore youth.
Although no such fountain exists, there is something far better: a fountain of life.
(Proverbs 14:27)
“The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, that one may avoid the snares of death.” By fearing the Lord you will experience life to the fullest and not worry.
(Proverbs 9:10-11)
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
For by me your days will be multiplied, and years of life will be added to you.”
The Lord has sovereignly determined each person’s life span-He has designed how long you will live.
(Psalm 139:16)
“Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.”
So He gives us the gift of life because He wants us to enjoy it to the fullest by fearing and obeying Him.
