So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. — Psalm 90:12
I have read many stories during my life of people who were told their days were numbered. In some instances, it was stories of famous criminals. They knew that they were going to get caught, so they lived their life in peculiar ways. Some lived in hiding, while others lived the life of luxury. In either sense, many of them knew they were simply one day away from it all coming to an end.
Some other instances were when people had been given notice that their days here in this life would end soon. I’ve read stories about how some people took fantastic trips, spent their time with family and friends, or even did things they always wanted. They lived as though they knew they were not going to live forever.
That’s the idea behind this verse in Psalm 90. The Psalmist starts out by saying to teach us to number our days. In other words, teach us to live our lives as though we can see the end is just ahead. It’s living life as though we are not guaranteed tomorrow and making our lives count.
But it doesn’t stop there. The suggestion is that if we lived our lives as if our days were numbered, we would apply a different form of wisdom. One writer said, “if anyone knew when, and where, and how he was to die, it might be presumed that this would exert an important influence on him in forming his plans, and on his general manner of life.”
As we live our lives, we need to realize that our lives are but a vapor as God’s word says. We are not guaranteed tomorrow. Our days are numbered. What we do each and every day matters. Our life should be driven with purpose of living each day for God, knowing that we may not have the opportunity tomorrow.
As you reflect today, do you live each day as if it may be your last to live for God? If you knew today would be the last opportunity you had to serve God, how would you spend it? What a challenge God’s word gives us to live our lives for God, not just when convenient, but each and every day.
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