How Long Are We Supposed to Live?

It has been said that the proposed health care reform will be "half-paid-for" by the reduction of health care services to the elderly (as though anything involving government is "paid for" by anything other than taxation). In other words, of the $1 trillion cost for reform, $500 billion would be saved through limitations to health care for the elderly. Should any of us really be surprised that our physical well-being deteriorates with age? Since most medical costs are associated with the elderly, it would seem to follow that any reform would also disproportionally affect the elderly. If Americans truly want reform, then common sense tells us that largest demographic group of those health care consumers cannot remain unaffected.

We have been told that health care reform will cause us (and our parents) to live shorter lives, with increased pain and suffering. However, I would ask, "Shorter than what?" Are we concerned that our lives might be shorter than if we had taken another pill to sustain us for one more day? Do we expect to extend the length of life longer than what God intends? Psalm 90:9-10 says "... we finish our years with a moan. The length of our days is seventy years--or eighty, if we have the strength."

I suggest that we redefine what we mean by a health care crisis. If we were seeing most people dying of various diseases before they're thirty, like during the Middle Ages, perhaps that is a crisis. If the average life span in the U.S. was 59 years, as it is in Russia, perhaps then we would have a crisis since this is still far short of the Bible's definition of an average life span. However, if we think that octogenarians ("Worried Sick" by Nortin Hadler) who die before reaching the age of 90 or 100 constitutes a health care crisis, then I believe we are playing a game that cannot be won, striving for some fountain of youth; striving for eternal life. Oh, but wait, we already have eternal life through Christ. Do we really believe that a lengthened life in our present imperfect bodies is somehow superior to entering a state of eternity?

If we do have a health care crisis, I suggest that it's due the aborting of millions of unborn babies. Why aren't we worried about their "shorter lives" that have indeed been shortened by 70 or 80 years? Or what about the thousands of young men and women in their late teens and early twenties whose lives were shortened by 50 or 60 years on battlefields of wars that we never intended to win, such as Vietnam? I pray to God that the same thing is not currently happening in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Owen Weber is the founder of Christian Data Resources, which publishes Christian books and articles on topical issues and frequently asked Bible questions. His passion is to promote Bible study by teaching others how to learn more about God's Word. This will enable readers to decide where they stand on the issues, according to how they interpret God's Word for themselves.

Visit http://www.christiandataresources.com/ for answers to your Bible questions.

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