JANUARY 21

In Genesis 15:15, God promised Abraham “…thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age” (Genesis 15:15). He promised Abraham long life, followed by eternal life with his ancestors who had passed on.

Now God is not promising that you will live as long as Abraham, but He is declaring that you will live to a “good old age” spiritually–meaning that you will live long enough to accomplish your destiny.

You may ask, “But what about those who die young?” When we live under the Abrahamic covenant, we will live long enough to fulfill our God-given destinies. For some, that will be sooner than others.

One tremendous example of this is the story of five missionaries martyred by the Auca Indians in Ecuador years ago. When they died, they were young in terms of chronological age, but these men lived long enough to fulfill their destinies. They opened the way for the gospel to reach these tribal people.

Even today, their legacy lives on through books and films like “Through Gates Of Splendor” and “The End Of The Spear” and in the lives of the Auca believers. The story of their sacrifice has resulted in multitudes responding to the call of God to the mission field over the years. These men, although they died young, lived long enough to accomplish their destinies.

In the provision given to Abraham, God also guarantees eternal life–that we will be “gathered to our fathers”, the saints of God who have preceded us in death:

But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

(1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

You will live long enough on earth to accomplish your destiny and you will live forever in eternity, your ultimate destiny.