Numbering Our Days

"Teach us to number our days carefully so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts" (Psalm 90:12, HCSB).

These words come from a psalm of Moses. It was probably written after he became the leader of Israel which means he was somewhere between 80 and 120 years of age. Most people would assume at that point in life you are a wise as you're going to get. Not Moses. He was committed to the process of learning.

Moses had to learn some lessons the hard way, and after that he was more inclined to listen. Maybe this prayer was written after Moses learned he would not enter the Promise Land because of his disobedience. Maybe the rebuke of the Lord left him feeling his foolishness.

Maybe he uttered this prayer while looking out over a vast multitude, freshly rescued through the sea. Maybe he feared the awesome responsibility of leading the people.

Whatever Moses' motivation, one thing is certain. Moses desired to live his life wisely. What would you do if you knew you were going to die in six months? Most of us would want to make the most of that time. To paraphrase Moses, "Lord, remind me of my mortality and impending judgment, so I'll do the right kind of things.

If you don't know it, your days are numbered. Only God knows the full count of them. One day, possibly soon, you will stand before him and give an account of how you lived. I hope you will be able to stand before him with a wise heart.

Numbering Our Days

"LORD, reveal the end of my life and the number of my days.  Let me know how short-lived I am.  You, indeed, have made my days short in length, and my life span as nothing in Your sight.  Yes, every mortal man is only a vapor" (Ps. 39:4-5, HCSB).

"Teach us to number our days carefully so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts" (Ps. 90:12, HCSB).

Time is something most of us assume we have.  Under normal circumstances, we operate without a sense of urgency.  A sixteen year-old assumes that there is another fifty or sixty years to come.  A thirty-five year-old assumes that there is another thirty or forty years left.  A fifty year-old assumes there is another twenty or so years left.

The reality is that none of know when life will end.  All we really know is that life will end.  It might be different for humanity if they came out of the womb with an expiration date.  David  (Psalm 39) wanted to know his expiration date.  He wanted to know the number of his days so that he could squeezes the most out of them for the glory of God.  It seems he knew how prone people can be to assuming that time is on their side.  David didn't want to be lulled into a false sense of security, he wanted to make the days he had count.

Moses (Psalm 90) also wanted to know the best way to go about numbering the days.   Moses reasoned that the right numbering of our days leads to wisdom.  If we are going to walk in the way that pleases the Lord, without turning to the left or right, we need to focus on the end.  The end must always be in sight.

Living with the end in sight allows us to major on the majors.  It keeps us from chasing all the time consuming rabbits that devour the precious moments of our lives.  It teaches us to maximize every opportunity.

It is dangerous to drift through life thinking that we will never run out of time.  That kind of thinking keeps us from fleeing to Christ for salvation.  We assume there is time for us to "live a little," and then come to Christ.  We fail to see that today is the appointed today, and that tomorrow may never come. 

Thinking there will always be more time, keeps us from fully devoting ourselves to Christ once we have trusted him.  "Tomorrow, Jesus," we say, "I promise I'll get on that first thing in the morning."  Time is ticking away, but we don't seem to hear it. Tick-tock. Tick-tock.  How long before the trumpet sounds?  We don't know.

I'm not suggesting we mope around worried about the day of our death.  Rather, I am suggesting we live as if our days are numbered and as if we want them to count.  Are you counting your days?  Are you making your days count?