Lasting Influence

 

Genesis 5:25 When Methuselah had lived 187 years, he fathered Lamech. 26 Methuselah lived after he fathered Lamech 782 years and had other sons and daughters. 27 Thus all the days of Methuselah were 969 years, and he died. 28 When Lamech had lived 182 years, he fathered a son 29 and called his name Noah,

When it comes down to it, when the day comes that we die, we hope to have left some sort of positive lasting influence. Methuselah is the longest living recorded person in scripture, and his first named son Lamech is an important link in salvation history, as his first named son is Noah.  If we do the math, we find that Methuselah was 369 when Noah was born, thus he had 600 years of influence in Noah's life. He also had a lot of years of influence over his other children, grandchildren, and on down the line. Looking at the conditions in Noah's world, was the influence of Methuselah mostly good or evil? Let's make this the year that we live to have a lasting influence for good and for God.