Psalm 90:17: “May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us — yes, establish the work of our hands.”

Last week, I had one of those things called a “birthday.” You know, they come around once a year and remind us that we are getting closer to the hereafter. Someone was teasing me about how many of those things called birthdays that I have had. With Tropical Storm Debby brewing off the coast, he even referred to me as becoming as old as Noah.

That got me to thinking: I’d like to live as long as Noah lived. Noah had 950 of those birthdays. He built an ark, but it took him a hundred years. Apparently, it was a government contract, or it took that many years to get enough tools as birthday gifts to finish the project.

How does that work? Do you look like you’re 100 years old for 850 years? Or do you look like you’re 50 at 500? I wonder if Noah went through a series of mid-life crises or just the big one at 400? You know, wearing the gold chains, getting a tattoo and trading in the family wagon for a sports chariot.

What do you say to someone who is 950 years old? “Noah, you look great! You don’t look a day over 800, man! It’s got to be that pork-free diet, isn’t it?”

The Bible tells you everything, but it tells you nothing about what Noah did before he was a carpenter. Very little is mentioned about his life before the flood except, “Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.”

Throughout the Bible, we find where people lived long and prosperous lives because they “found favor” in the Lord.

Harn is the Pastor of Victory Assembly of God and a member of the United Ministerial Alliance.