Daily Devotional

“So, all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years; and he died” (Genesis 5:27). 

The many passengers showed their boarding passes to the agent and stepped onto the plane, scheduled to fly from Virginia to Los Angeles. A few minutes into the flight, passenger Barbara Olson called her husband and told him that the plane had been hijacked and that the hijackers had knives and box cutters. Her husband informed her that there had been other hijackings that morning, but she showed no signs of panic. About twenty minutes later, Flight 77 exploded into the western wall of the Pentagon, killing Barbara and sixty-three other passengers. 

Barbara was an attorney, author, and U.S. Representative. As chief investigative counsel for the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, she uncovered several corruption scandals in the political world in which she worked. Barbara’s eyewitness account of the hijacking of American Airlines Flight 77 provided important information about the events of September 11, 2001. She died the very day of one of the greatest results of corruption she warned against. She was a faithful witness. 

Methuselah was the oldest man who ever lived on this earth. Enoch, who “walked with God” (Genesis 5:22) and was taken to heaven before death, was his father. Noah, who also walked with God and found grace in His sight, was his grandson. Methuselah listened to the preaching of his grandson and helped build the ark. He spent his lifetime of 969 years uncovering corruption scandals in the world in which he lived and warning the world of a coming flood. 

Methuselah’s consistent, faithful witness for God provided important information about who God is and about His plan to save people from sin and eternal death. In his 969th year, the rain of judgment began to fall. He died the very year of the event resulting from the corruption he warned against. He was a faithful witness. 

Lord, may I be a consistent, faithful witness for You in my very corrupt world.