“Have you figured out the meaning of life yet,” is one of the 12 questions a centenarian is asked. (The New Zealand Herald, Tuesday, May 28, 2019, “12 Questions”)

Another of the 12 questions is, “You are now 102. What is the hardest thing about getting old?” And the answer given is, “Losing all your friends.”

Reading that reminds me of my best friend, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ says in John 15:14, “You are my friends if you do what I command.”

Picture / Alan Collingwood

And here are some more divine commands of Christ:

1. Matthew 28:20: “The Great Commission”
2. John 13:34: About love
3. John 14:15: “‘If you love me, you will obey what I command.'”
4. John 14:21: What a promise. Please read it.
5. John 15:10: Another promise.
6. John 15:14: Mentioned already.
7. Acts 10:42: “He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead.”
8. 1 John 3:23: “And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.”

And I surely do not need to tell you that the Lord Jesus Christ is a friend you never lose.

And no, the centenarian who is now 102, says, that he has not figured out the meaning of life, although having been brought up in the Anglican Church faith and attending church regularly. He has given up going to church and does not believe in God, but considers himself spiritual.

“The church seems so weak and ineffective in this modern world, and so filled with troubles that the problem of what we can do about the situation should be uppermost in the minds of all Christian people.” – D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

New Testament in Comtemporary English (CEV)

“Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.” – Psalm 68:19

“But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.” – James 1:6

“Trying to keep my mouth shut,” answered a centenarian, when he was asked, “What’s an important lesson you have learned in your lifetime?”

Reading that brought again Isaiah 30:15 to my mind, a verse in the Bible, I have known for many, many years. There it says, “‘…, in quietness and trust is your strength, …'”

“Reden ist Silber, Schweigen ist Gold,” (Speaking is silver and being quite is gold.) we say in German.

And here is more what the Bible teaches on the subject: The Bible has a lot to says about our lips, our tongue, silence and idle talk.

In Psalm 141:3 David prays, “Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips.”

There is more in the Bible about guarding our lips and speaking rashly. Listen to what it says in Proverbs 13:3, “He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin.”

And here is how we can keep ourselves from calamity, “He who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity,” it says in Proverbs 21:23.

And this is what we must also do in order to “love life” and “see good days,” we must keep our tongue from evil and our lips from deceitful speech. Please read 1 Peter 3:10-12.

Who else is trying to keep his mouth shut?

And here is how the centenarian continues his answer to the question at the beginning, “Not to be too critical of people who do things differently. Accept that just you wouldn’t have done it that way, it doesn’t mean it’s wrong.”