Numbering Our Days

Psalm 90:12 So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

The great theologian, preacher and author Jonathon Edwards lived with three imperatives at the forefront of his mind – the shortness of life – the suddenness of death – the length of eternity. Thus, he resolved to live the entirety of his life with an eternal perspective rather than being confined to the temporal. Edwards understood that God had set limits on his life. God set a birth date for us, a date of our death and knows exactly how many days in between. We will not exceed the bounds of our mortality other than what God has appointed for us.

Job 14:5 Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou has appointed his bounds that he cannot pass.

If God has numbered our days, then we would be wise to number them too. The time given to us is a gift from God and we ought not to waste any of that time, but rather, to use every moment for the utmost glory of God. Within this designated time God has ordained for each of us, are God-designed opportunities He wants us to fulfill. We must seize these moments of opportunities ‘redeeming the time, because the days are evil.’ (Ephesians 5:16).

Truly we have so little time on this earth to pursue what counts for eternity and our enemy will endeavor to waylay our good intentions whenever possible. We must resolve to strategically use our time for a more effective end that will glorify God. There is almost a sense of urgency for us to redeem or purchase the time we have because like a good sale, the time won’t last. We must do what God has called us to do, because for each of us, time is running out!

Edwards had a phobia against wasting time. He resolved never to lose one moment of time, but to improve it in the most profitable way that he could. For example, when Edwards was traveling on horseback to attend meetings, he would use the time by writing notes and pinning them all over his coat until a later time to write them down fluently into a sermon (He must have been an excellent rider to do this!)

Edwards wanted his life on earth to be shaped by what was most important when entering Heaven. He resolved that whatever was important in Heaven must dominate the landscape of his life. Can this be said of us? Edwards was not preoccupied with the temporal and the visible, but the eternal and in the invisible. How quickly do we become entangled in the seemingly pressing and urgent matters of the most that truly have no eternal weight!

We truly apply our hearts to wisdom when we comprehend the shortness of human life, the suddenness of our death and the length of eternity. Moses was astute in asking God for this request in Psalm 90.

Philippians 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

There can be no greater proof of futility than to ramble through life without considering the immortality of our lives and the real purpose of why we are here. True believers, however, know the difference between this transitory state of existence and the blessed eternal life for which we were created. They know what their purpose is and aim of their lives right now: to ensure that they use their time fashioned after the prize of the heavenly calling of God in Christ Jesus.

A few questions to ponder.

1. How often do you seriously contemplate your own mortality?
2. Are you attentive to the Spirit’s leading to God-given opportunities?
3. Where are you wasting time, rather than using it for God’s glory?
4. Do the things that matter to God matter to you? Do you know what truly matters to God?
5. What specific things are you engaging in that will have a direct impact when you stand before Jesus and what will not count?
6. Do you aspire after ‘the prize for which God has called us Heavenwards, or are you consumed by the world too much?