Our kitchen clock is running out of time. It is still plugged into the wall but it is just not keeping up. The hour hand has gone around 495,900 times since it was given to us as a wedding present. The linens and towels were gone a long time ago so that clock has been a champ. The silverware still looks good but it was destined to outlast us. The silverware has spent most of the 52 years in a dark drawer but the kitchen clock has watched my wife cook for two boys and six grandchildren and one ageing husband.
I am so thankful I have outlasted the clock. But my (our) time is limited. The cover of last week’s Time magazine featured a baby with the subheading “This baby could live to be 142 years old.” Even with the most advanced medical care that would be it because of something called “The Hayflick Limit.” It appears that anatomists can only get human cells to divide 40 to 60 times. Each mitosis slightly shortens the telomeres until division becomes impossible.
Therefore I Corinthians 15 makes so much sense. Until this corruption puts on incorruption and this mortality puts on immortality artificial joints and organs will not be the solution for our desire to live forever. That can only happen by the intervention of the One who not only made us but will also resurrect us. Jesus, and Jesus alone, can make the promise of John 3:16 a reality. Modern science is wonderful but alas will always be limited by inherent weaknesses of our flesh. It is so exciting to know that our Creator God isn’t a magician but the ultimate scientist with all the necessary answers.
Written by Roger Bothwell on February 24, 2015
Spring of Life, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothwell.org