Numbering Our Days

Quote: “From the moment we are born, we begin to die.” – Janne Teller

Scripture: Psalm 90 NIV and Ephesians 5:15-16 NLT – “Be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like thosewho are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.”

Some Thoughts: It seems like every day we are reminded of our mortality. But each birthday reminds me of my mortality even more!  I don’t know if you had ever heard the quote above. It sounds kind of depressing, until you think about the truth from a temporal standpoint.

I was reading Psalm 90. My heart jumped in praise as I read verses 1-2: “Lord, You have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.”  (Me – Yes, Amen!)

But verses 3-6 found me feeling a little deflated: “You turn people back to dust, saying, ‘Return to dust, you mortals.’ A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death—they are like the new grass of the morning: In the morning it springs up new, but by evening it is dry and withered.”  (Me – The “return to dust” is not a thrilling thought.)

I felt even worse when I continued reading verse 10: “Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.”  (Me – Oh dear, with each birthday, getting closer to the “seventy years, or eighty”.)

Here’s the big “aha”, in verse 12: “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (Me – Okay.  I’m beginning to see the context of this Psalm.)

In Ephesians, Paul writes: “Be careful how you live….make the most of every opportunity.”

Someone (I don’t know who) estimated that if people live an average of 72 years, that would be around 26,000 days. A person who is over 27 years old may think they have plenty of days left, but the truth is, a person over 27, has already passed over 10,000 days! If you want to really start today off on a happy note, I wouldn’t recommend taking your age and multiplying it by 365 to see how many days have passed.

Some more statistics: There are studies that say we check our phones anywhere from 58 to 160 times a day. The average American is on their phone in some capacity about 5 hours a day!  That is 35 hours a week. If my math is correct, that ends up being about 79 of our precious days a year spent on our phones! (That doesn’t include time on the computer or watching TV.) If you’re still reading and not in the throes of despair, there is some encouragement in II Corinthians 4:16-18: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” I am encouraged to “fix my eyes on what is unseen and eternal.”

The sobering thought is that “time” is the one thing we can’t get back. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”  This verse isn’t meant to depress, but to advise us to make the most of each day.  Each day is a new opportunity, a gift from the Lord.

When I think of what I spend my precious commodity of time on, I am asking myself, “What is going to matter eternally?” That’s what I need to fix my eyes on.  Numbering my days and making the most of every opportunity doesn’t have to be something we dread.  We live in joy when we are in a “moment-by-moment” relationship with Jesus.  I choose to fasten my eyes on Him.

Prayer: Thank You, Lord, even though it is convicting, of the reminder that our days on earth fly quickly. Thank You for reminding me to make the most of every opportunity. Teach me to number my days and may a day not pass that I haven’t been careful to invest in things that will matter eternally.

Page Views 114