Old as the Hills

    The census taker knocked on the lady's door.  She answered all his questions except one.  She refused to tell him her age.
    "But everyone tells their age to the census taker," he said.
    "Did Miss Maisy Hill, and Miss Daisy Hill tell you their ages?" she asked.
    "Certainly," he replied.
    "Well, I'm the same age as they are," she snapped.
    The census taker simply wrote on the form, "As old as the Hills."
    You may have heard that our nation's oldest person, a 113-year-old woman, died recently just weeks before her 114th birthday.  The world's oldest person in the world, according to the Gerontology Research Group, is a Japanese man, who will turn 116 next week. The oldest person ever on record was a Frenchwoman who was 122 when she died in 1997.  All of these could easily be described with the phrase, "As old as the hills."
    But they are all babies when compared with Methuselah.  You recognize his name.  He's known in the Bible for one thing -- being the oldest person mentioned.  969 years old!  That's a lot of years.  And I think it's sad. Not that he was so old, but because that's what he is known for.  He's not known for his great faith, for his moral courage, or for his righteousness. He's known for being old.
    In fact, if you do the math, you come up with an interesting fact -- Methuselah died the year it started flooding.  Was it just a coincidence, or was Methuselah one of the many who perished in that judgment of God?  We don't know.
    I just pray that some day I'll be remembered, not for the number of years I lived upon this earth, but for the way that I lived while I was here.
    "The silver-haired head is a crown of glory, if it is found in the way of righteousness." (Proverbs 16:31)
    Have a great day!

- Alan Smith, author of the popular "Thought For Today," and minister for the Fayetteville Church of Christ in Fayetteville, NC, may be contacted at alansmith.servant@gmail.com