Teach Us to Number Our Days
Last night a morbid thought came to mind. As I lay down and pulled the nice warm covers over top of me, one day (unless the Lord comes) I will lay down never to rise again. Then my thoughts became more morbid, almost macabre…I wondered, would it be a short duration, lying there for a day or two, then expire, would I be aware of what is happening or be unconscious? Worse yet, would it be a prolonged period of incapacity of longing to get up, but just unable? No wonder I had a difficult time getting to sleep! I then thought I would turn some of these morbid scenes into a silent prayer time, suggesting to the Lord how He might take me out of this world. On that subject I am reminded of what the Lord said, in Proverbs 27:1, "Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth." Our Lord also said in Psalm 31:15, "My times are in thy hand...". So, we see from the Scripture that God has our future under control and we need not to worry. "In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me” (Psalm 56:11).
The Bible says, "So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom" (Psalm 90:12). Yesterday I arranged my calendar, looking down the course for 365 days and how best to spend them in God’s will. God goes a step further and encourages us to estimate our lifespan and go the distance, according to His plan. Our Lord said to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. As we attempt to apply His wisdom to our vulnerable, brief span that we find ourselves on this earth, with your permission let me set these challenges before you:
1. Leave no unfinished business behind.
If I have not done the final math in my checkbook, my loved ones can easily strike a balance. If I leave a dirty shirt on the bed post, it can be washed and given to someone of close size (that’s kind of creepy isn’t it?).
Let’s think about some business that I need to make sure has been attended to. If a person who is not a Christian has rapport with me, they will be more likely to hear a witness from me before they would receive a witness from someone else. Therefore, I need to take advantage of being a witness within my perimeters of personal acquaintance. God’s firm word of warning to the unconverted is: "...this night thy soul shall be required of thee..." (Luke 12:20).
On another subject if I need to congratulate someone for something accomplished or if I need to proffer an apology for an inappropriate word or action, it would be advantageous to me and them that I would do so. If we are not promised of tomorrow, no wonder God says, "...let not the sun go down upon your wrath" (Ephesians 4:26).
2. Send treasures ahead.
Jesus said, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Matthew 6:19-21).
I committed my entire life to Jesus Christ as an older teen-ager. I had not yet met the girl of my dreams (to whom I am now married), nor was I even sure what my major was going to be in college when I came across this passage of Scripture. What conviction it brought to my life! I had been given advice from older people on how to get ahead (financially); I was given some inspiring reading that would be categorized as self-help. Yet when I heard the words of my Lord in this Gospel account, I understood clearly that much of what we could live for in this world is going to go up in flames. "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up" (II Peter 3:10).
What activity and works could we do on earth that would be sent on ahead of us into heaven? Here are a few: The prayers we pray (Revelation 8:3, 4), the tears we shed for the advancement of God’s kingdom on earth, when we suffer wrong for His glory (Psalms 56:8; Psalm 126:5, 6) and the souls we win (Daniel 12:3).
"Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire" (I Corinthians 3:12-15).
3. Leave a legacy for your children.
The Bible says, "...for the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children" (II Corinthians 12:14). This phrase challenges me to leave a legacy of honesty. In family reunions of my youth I recall the talks about the Bible, history and integrity. What mattered most as we assembled as a family were those acts of honesty done by our elders. From the honest effort on a beach at Normandy in World War II to the paying of a minor fine on a street, it mattered to our family that we would be honest!
Let us leave a legacy of kindness. "And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you" (Ephesians 4:32, 33).
Let us leave a legacy of common sense. Oh! to have common sense in use of time, money spent and wisdom accrued! Like exotic jewelry worn about one’s person, may our children be adorned with wisdom handed to us and in turn given to them, "My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck" (Proverbs 1:8, 9).
My prayer is that you shall by God’s grace have the best year of your life!
- Pastor Pope -