Numbering Our Days: Living With Eternity in Mind

Recently, looking around our basement at home, I said to myself, “How have we accumulated this much stuff?” It’s nothing extraordinary, just everyday household things – old clothes, Christmas decorations, and so on. And Sheila and I have been married for over ten years, so I guess that’s plenty of time to gather things. But the reason I was looking around is that we soon will have to rent a dumpster to throw some of this out. To get rid of some of these things we once purchased with excitement, that now sit in a dusty pile waiting for the trash heap.

I guess this is the way of life, though, isn’t it? Not everything has to be like this, and we have more than we need (as I’m sure many would say). But you know how it goes. That nice chair at Walmart catches your eye. Or that new tackle box really stands out at the Field and Stream. So, you reason out that you need it, you may wait for a sale, and you buy it up. And you get it home, set it up, and enjoy looking at it when you pass by. Then all of a sudden, a year passes, and you haven’t sat there or opened that box once. You feel a little guilt, and you make a point of using it once or twice. But then another two years pass, and still it sits.

Then, finally, one day you need the space it occupies or you give up the idea of ever getting it out to fish, so you store it away – and then one day you toss it away in the trash.

It’s important for us to remember, especially as we begin a new year, that this life is temporary. The things of this world will one day end up in a heap. The home you love will be sold after you die, and maybe even torn down. That car you value will rust and be crushed. That paperweight you love, and your grandmother had, will be in a yard sale in time. That’s a tough reality to stomach, but a needed one to always keep in our mind's eye.

Psalm 90:12 says, “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” There is wisdom in recognizing the brevity of life, and why? Because we must learn to invest less of ourselves (our minds, hearts, very lives) into things which do not last. That doesn’t mean to enjoy the gifts God’s given on this earth. But there’s a difference between enjoying seeing grandma’s paper weight, and it being treated like a treasure you’d be “devastated” to lose or have broken. At that point, it’s become something more than a blessing – it’s probably an idol.

Instead, let us recognize this new year that we might die at any moment. And all that lasts is our relationship with Jesus Christ and our sharing of him with others. That needs to have a REAL LIFE impact on how we spend our time – less with our tackle box and more with His word. Less with our knitting and more with learning to tell others about him. So let us number our days, that we might gain the wisdom to live our lives with eternity in mind.

And join us here, as we work together toward this goal. From Sunday Worship and events like those in this newsletter, all these things are designed to help us live as Christ means for us to.

Counting my days along with you,

William