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Our Days Are Numbered


Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:12)
          Has anyone had the same problem as I have over the past week or so? The day after Christmas was Monday. Tuesday was the second of January. Wednesday was Monday again. I write the day and date on Dad’s white board every morning, but the holidays have really messed with my internal calendar. Dad being up at least once during the night isn’t doing much for my internal clock either. I feel like singing the old Chicago song, “Does anybody really know what time it is? Does anybody really care?”
          When my next to the last job was eliminated, I found that I wasted too much time. What was the rush? I could always ______ tomorrow. That was part of why I applied for a job where I ended up working for 13 years, because having a job, any job, would force me to be more organized and purposeful. Now that I’m “unemployed” again, I have some of the same problems. What does it matter if I don’t _________. There’s always tomorrow for dreams to come true…. (sing it!) Tomorrow! Tomorrow! I love ya, Tomorrow! That’s why I like accountability groups and goals. They provide some structure.
          But, what would it be like if we learned to number our days the way God does? First off, there’s the fact that God is outside of time. According to some, that means that any time is “now” to Him. Ignoring that tempting rabbit trail, I’ll only suggest what some other writers have written…to number our days right, we need to be present in the present, not living in either the past or the future. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t learn from the past or prepare for the future, just that we shouldn’t live there. Someday Isle doesn’t exist.
          I don’t know the answer to my question, but I have a few guesses that may or may not be true. We might learn to see our lives as a brief part in a larger whole. We might recognize that we need to change our priorities. We might recognize that our days (hours, seconds) are gifts God gives us that we can use well or badly, and learn how to use them better. To tell the truth, I’m a little afraid of this prayer because I don’t know what it means, but the promise attached is that we will gain a heart of wisdom. Since wisdom is one of my standard prayer requests, I guess this prayer must be mine….Lord, teach me to number my days, that I may gain a heart of wisdom.

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