August 11 – Numbered Days (Psalm 90)

“Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”(Psalm 90:12)

IN WORD:
Against all evidence to the contrary, we grow up thinking we are invincible. There is something deep in the human soul — something placed there by the God who created us for eternity — that tells us life is endless. It is, but there is a substantial difference between the life we live now and the life we live in eternity. They overlap, but in only one can we bear fruit for the other. What we do today can have everlasting consequences. We can invest in the treasures of the Kingdom of God.
So many lives end in regret over this revelation. Many of us let our days pass by in survival mode or in entertainment mode, never balancing such concerns with the eternal fruits that matter more. We are to plant so that our God may reap and reward. And in order to sow effectively, we must sow with a clear awareness that the time to plant is extremely short. The window of opportunity for fruit bearing is narrow indeed.
James tells us our life is a vapor. David agrees: “Each man’s life is but a breath” (Psalm 39:5). In the grand, eternal scheme of things, we are a small point on the timeline. By the time we learn what we need to know and are equipped to serve, we have but a moment left. But God has given us an awesome privilege. We can accomplish in that moment works of such significance that they will last forever. God can change people’s lives through us. He can shape our children and our spouses and our friends through us. He can feed the hungry, encourage the outcast, redeem the lost, heal the sick, cultivate worshipers, and build His Kingdom through us. But only if we’re wise and have numbered our days.

IN DEED:
Paul tells us to redeem the time because the days are evil (Ephesians 5:16). They are fleeting days, slipping by us before we’ve hardly noticed. We must number them. We must live with an eye on the limitations of time and the certainty of death. Wisdom fills the hearts of those who can live with such perspective.

“Time is given us to use in view of eternity.” -Anonymous-