The Case for Pickled Herring

Two women were interviewed and asked to explain their remarkable longevity. The first, age 100, said she believed she lived such a long life because her diet includes a daily portion of pickled herring. The other, age 114, stated simply, “I’ve lived this long by minding my own business.”

Whether you are in the pickled herring or minding your own business camp, the important thing for us to remember is God’s gift of human life is intentional. There is purpose and meaning to be discovered, lived, and shared. At any age, if we handle the gift as a selfish possession, our purpose and meaning cannot be realized. We will live a non-productive, noncreative life and, in some sense, like the barren fig tree, we will be cut down. Our life in Christ has a deep, deep intention. God intends that it be carefully lived, thoughtfully fashioned, and purposefully used so that the great, final day of total deliverance can come to every soul.

Though we…