Number your days? What?

Death! I hate death. My apologies for the strong words but they are true. Death is awful and causes pain and grief that lasts for years. I have narrowly escaped his evil grip a couple of times myself but several of my family members have not.

My dad died when he was 42, my mother was only 37, my daughter was 41, my best friend's child was only 8 years old. So, my perspective on time might be just a little different than yours because one really doesn't know how much time you have on this planet.

Perspective is most often gained through experience and time. The right perspective is one that is filtered through the lens of the Word of God and taught by the Holy Spirit inside us, given us at salvation.

The request “teach us to number our days” means that we need God to reveal to us the brevity of life. That revelation will help us grow wise, and wisdom is important because the choices we make during our brief stay on earth have eternal consequences. ETERNAL CONSEQUENCES!

Jesus gave a parable that also explains what happens when we don’t “number our days.” In Luke 12:19–21 He describes a rich man who wanted only to “eat, drink, and be merry” and had no time or thought for God. The rich man believed he had years yet to enjoy his pleasures, but God required his soul that very night. If the rich man had learned to “number his days,” he would have pursued ventures that had eternal significance. We can learn from this parable that none of us know how many days we will be granted, so we must not waste them on silly, selfish pursuits that have no real value.

Here is some really great news, when we live in harmony with Him, death is simply a change of address. Our enjoyment of Him continues unabated when we step from this life into eternity through the saving grace of Jesus Christ.

The gifted C.S. Lewis wrote it this way “There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations - these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendors. It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which,if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree helping each other to one or the other of these destinations" (heaven or hell)

Each day I MUST remember this and not get caught up in the drama and distractions that life throws at us. Cherish those you love, enjoy the laughter and the mundane, worship the Almighty when that tousled gray-haired man makes his way to the coffee maker in the morning. "See" those rainbows on the kitchen floor that your child or grandchild sees and then worship some more!

Have mercy on the grumpy and sometimes hateful person that can make your life somewhat miserable and pray like a maniac for an opportunity to share with them that Jesus loves them!

When we learn to number our days, we see each day as a valuable gift and an opportunity to store up treasure in heaven.

(Luke 12:33, Revelation 22:13)