Life Expectancy of Ants, Bees and Human Beings
A while back, I looked at the life expectancy tables of different animals, insects, and man. It’s amazing what you can Google these days!
What started off as a fun fact-finding mission with my youngest child eventually ended in a sober judgment of life.
Life is fragile. It is too short to get bitter and twisted. Therefore, we need to make the most of life—we need to cherish life and our loved ones.
Look at the Life Expectancy of the Following Animals
An ant’s entire life expectancy is 45 to 60 days.
Bees live for around six weeks. From birth to pre-primary school, teenage years, college, working career, retirement, old age, and death, they all happen in under two months.
By the way, a flea or a mosquito’s life expectancy is around 30 to 100 days (unless it lives in my house!)
Depending on size and type, cats and dogs usually live between 8 to 20 years. The bigger the dog, the lower the life expectancy.
Birds and lions usually live for 15 to 20 years.
Parrots and elephants can live for 60 to 80 years.
I then Looked at the Life Expectancy of People
The oldest person to have lived in modern times is Jeanne Calment (1875–1997) of France, who died at the age of 122 years, 164 days.
According to Wikipedia, the oldest verified living person is Lucile Randon, born on 11 February 1904 and is currently 118 years old.
By the way, of the current top 100 living people in the world, 93 are women and 7 are men, with 90% coming from Japan, the Americas, and Europe. Not one in the top 100 is from Africa.
Looking Back…
During the Roman Empire, life expectancy was short, with the average person only living between 22 and 25 years.
In the 1900s, the average life expectancy was only 30 years.
In 1985, stats show that the average world life expectancy was 62. This is now up to 64. Also, women usually live longer than men. The life expectancy age in the world is 62 for males and 66 for females.
Country by Country
According to the tables, Europeans have the longest life expectancy. This is attributed to the Mediterranean diet.
Life expectancy tables show average life expectancy is…
- 80 in Europe
- 78 in the USA
- 73 in China
- 60 in the Philippians and Russia
- 52 in South Africa
- 33 in Swaziland
You may ask, “Well, Clinton, what’s the point of this?”
It shows how short and temporary life on Earth really is.
Even if you were to outlive the oldest person in the modern world, your life on earth would still be so short.
You, therefore, should make every effort to enjoy your life.
Enjoy Every Day of Your Life
King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived according to scripture, said the following about life, “Even so, I have noticed one thing, at least, that is good. It is good for people to eat, drink, and enjoy their work under the sun during the short life God has given them, and to accept their lot in life. And it is a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life—this is indeed a gift from God.” (Ecclesiastes 5:18-19)
We need to make the most of life.
Live your life with purpose and passion. Treasure your family. Be grateful. Live it up. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Be gracious. Enjoy each day.
Again, King Solomon said, “Young people, it’s wonderful to be young! Enjoy every minute of it. Do everything you want to do; take it all in.” (Ecclesiastes 11:9a)
God’s word tells us to enjoy life. Take it all in. Live life. Enjoy it.
But King Solomon continued and sent us a warning, “But remember that you must give an account to God for everything you do.” (Ecclesiastes 11:9b)
In other words, live your life to the full, but don’t forget about God and eternity.
There is more to life than just the here and now.
Live to honor God, for life does not end at the grave. You will continue to live into eternity.
So, live on purpose and live with passion, but don’t forget God.
Life is Short…
Looking at life expectancy tables really does paint a picture of how fragile life is on earth.
From God’s perspective, your life on earn is ultra-short. According to God, your entire life on earth, even if you live to be the oldest person in modern history, is equivalent to a few hours in eternity.
God’s word gives us perspective on this.
“For you, a thousand years are as a passing day, as brief as a few night hours.” (Psalm 90:4)
In other words, a thousand years on Earth is equivalent to a day in eternity. So even if you live to be 200 years old, your entire life on earth would be equivalent to around 4 hours in eternity.
Again, God’s word tells us, “How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.” (James 4:14)
Life is uncertain.
We are like a morning mist. We appear briefly, and then our life on Earth ends.
Again, God makes it clear that life on earth is so short.
“LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered— how fleeting my life is. You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, human existence is but a breath.” (Psalm 39:4-5)
But You Were Made to Live Forever
While your life on earth is a short moment in time, you were made to live forever.
While your body will one day grow old and die, your spirit will continue to live forever. God made you not just to live a few temporary years on earth but to live forever.
Where will you spend your eternity?
According to the Bible, there are two eternal destinations: heaven and hell.
Heaven is a place of beauty, peace, and perfection where there will be no more pain, hurt, sickness, stress, heartache, or evil like we face on earth.
We will live with God and have abundant life.
Hell, on the other end, is a place of continual pain, never-ending evil, torment, and anguish.
In hell, we will be separated from God permanently for all eternity.
Each of us will one day appear before God.
“For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.” (2 Corinthians 5:10)
Depending on your relationship with God, you will either spend eternity with Him in His Kingdom or be separated from Him.
Without a Savior, we are sunk, but there is hope. God made a way. He sent Jesus, who paid the full price for our sins, to make us right with God.
We are told, “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)
Again, God’s word tells us, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.” (Romans 3:23-24)
You can be made right with God when you believe that Jesus sacrificed His life, shedding his blood for you.
Jesus came to rescue you and me so that we can share eternity with Him.
So, there is more to your temporary life on earth. God made you to share eternity with Him.
For those who know Jesus as their Lord and Savior, you can know that your eternity will be bright. You will live with God. You will receive a new, imperishable, healthy body that will be free from all stress, aches, pains, and sickness.
Heavenly Bodies
God’s word tells His children concerning eternity, “For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands. We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies. While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life. God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 5:1-5)
If your eternity is a matter of chance, I implore you to call on Jesus. He loves you, wants to save you, wants to be your God, and wants to share eternity with you.
Many young people say, “I have so much time before I need to think or worry about eternity.”
Many say, “One day, when I am old, I will consider these things.”
But no one knows the number of their days.
If you die today, do you know where you will spend your eternity?
If you don’t, please do not risk your eternity.
Surrender your life to Jesus. God wants to start a relationship with you today. This relationship doesn’t only start in eternity. It can start right now. You don’t need to face life’s struggles alone. God wants to do life with you, starting today.
If want to start or restart your walk with God, click here to pray a simple prayer we have set up for you.
Don’t Take Life for Granted. Don’t Take Your Eternity for Granted.
Life is too short to become bitter and twisted or to live in fear and dread. Make the most of it.
God’s word tells us, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2)
There is a time for everything.
There is a time to live. Live your life fully. Life is for God. Live on purpose, with purpose, and with passion.
Your life is precious. Don’t waste it. Make the most of your temporary life on earth.
There is also a time to die. Make sure that your eternity is secure with God. Remember that life does not end at the grave. Life goes on. There is a heaven and a hell, but God makes a way for all mankind to be saved and have eternal life in heaven.
God’s word also tells us that “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
Your Life Expectancy
Today, we started off by looking at the life expectancy tables.
The bad news is that your life expectancy on earth is not that long, but the good news is that there is a loving Father who made a way so that we can know for sure that our eternity is secure in heaven.
Heaven can be your eternal home. It is the place that God prepared for His children to spend eternity.
You
What does your future hold?
How long do you have left on earth?
What is your life expectancy?
Are you living your life to the full?
If not, what are you waiting for?
Do you know that you do not need to face life alone?
If you are lonely, afraid, overwhelmed, or unsure of your plans, invite Jesus to be your Lord and Savior. God wants to walk the journey with you.
If want to start or restart your walk with God, click here to pray a simple prayer we have set up for you.
Eternity
Do you know where you will spend your eternity?
If not, call on Jesus.
He made a way for you to live forever in His Kingdom, for all eternity.
He wants to share eternity with you.
