NUMBERING OUR DAYS

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

Parris and I were talking recently about the coming new year. Actually, I find it hard to believe that it is actually 2015. I remember when we started our ministry wondering about the turn of the Century. It seemed so far off and not really real, now we find ourselves fifteen years into this new Century. Have you thought about just how short our lives really are. It’s as if they are like a mist that is gone before you even know it. That’s why today’s passage is so critical. We are to number our days because none of us know how many we have left. Each day is a gift from the Lord, precious and more valuable than we know. Here are Martin Luther’s thoughts on today’s verse.

“Until I realized how seriously and urgently Moses prayed in this passage, I didn’t understand that we should ask God to teach us to number our days. I thought everyone was just as afraid of death as I was. However, out of ten thousand people, only ten might believe that numbering their days is important. The rest of the masses of people live as if God doesn’t exist and death doesn’t occur.

But this isn’t the worst part. Some people who are about to die imagine that they’ll go on living. Others, overwhelmed by misery, still dream of happiness. Still others, who are in extreme danger, foolishly think they’re totally secure. Their delusion is the saddest part of all.

So Moses appropriately teaches us to pray that we might number our days.

Occasionally we’ll find people who really are concerned about the shortness of life. They are preoccupied with thoughts of their impending death, even though they didn’t pray for this knowledge. But most people aren’t aware that their days are numbered. They live as if the present moment will last forever. So for most of us, praying the way Moses suggests in this passage is indispensable.”

Kathryn Kuhlman also had a sense of eternity in her preaching. She often spoke of the day in our lives that has no tomorrows. I wonder if that day will be in 2015. Only the Holy Spirit can sensitize us to the hour that we live in. Could this be the year of Christ’s return. If so, I need to number my days.