I have observed a troubling and consistent trend over the past year: an increase in premature deaths. It feels as though the illnesses that once only claimed the elderly are now tightening their grip on the young. While I am not moved by fear, I have been brooding over this reality. I have come to realize that we cannot simply assume a spiritual "covering" belongs to us by default.

The secret to the protection of the Passover was the physical application of the blood upon the lintel—it was an act of obedience, not merely a verbal claim of identity. There are times when God is looking for those who are truly in a covenant relationship, rather than those simply confessing the covenant. Many who have fallen prematurely surely confessed and claimed promises of longevity, yet the trend of decadence continues.

I woke up recently with a sudden "knowing." There is a high level of decay in the world today that is reflecting in the shortened lifespan of man. The very fiber of the human body seems to be weakening, returning to the "dust" proclaimed in Genesis.

In this climate, the guarantee of long life is tied to the hope of salvation. According to Psalm 91:16, God promises: “With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.” This suggests that long life is a provision for a specific kind of person one who is looking for salvation from the onset. God grants the length of days so that the believer has the necessary time to lay hold of and fully witness His saving power. Brethren, let us labor at following salvation, this is the only guarantee for Good keeping us alive for long "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them." — Deuteronomy 30:19-20 (King James Version).