Time is almost up! That statement may bring a sense of dread or feelings of anxiousness. It may also bring a sense of hope. What is the difference? Perspective.
My first overseas assignment in the Army was to a one-year unaccompanied tour in the Republic of Korea (South Korea). We were given a “short-timer’s calendar on the first day of in-processing. It was a map (Think Candy Land or Chutes-and-Ladders) containing 365 squares and we were encouraged to check off the days until we redeployed to the US. As one neared the end of the line of squares, the anticipation of reunion with loved ones increased to a fevered pitch.
The same anticipated reunion carried with it a far different sense of anticipation on report card day when I was a boy in school. I always got low marks on classroom conduct. It seems I was a talker. Go figure! Watching the clock tick off the minutes until my dad came home…was dreadful. There would be an accounting for my conduct, and it would not be pretty.
Both incidents involve being reunited with family after time away. So, what is the difference? Anticipation is informed by perspective and perspective is shaped by what I did with the minutes leading up to the reunion.
I imagine it is that way with other disciples as they consider their reunion with Jesus. How they view that day is directly informed by what they did on this day and the day before. The Psalmist gives us insight on how to gain a perspective of longing and excitement as we anticipate our reunion with Christ.
12So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.
Psalm 90:12, NASB95
First, he asks God to “so teach.” In Hebrew, this is not just a “transfer of information” type of teaching. It speaks of helping us to understand correctly how to make our days count.
Second, he prays for God to instruct on how to “number our days.” The word here speaks of reckoning…which is an accounting term. Think soberly about the accounting of the days ahead so that we will have the right perspective. When I was a younger man in my twenties, I was pretty much convinced of my near immortality. As I’ve aged, I recognize not only that I am not immortal, but that the day of my departure is much closer than ever before.
Third, he prays that the fruit of God’s right-teaching about the reckoning of days will result in presenting God with the fruit of one who has lived wisely.
Have you considered what it might look like to stand before Jesus. Pastor JD Greear recently said in a sermon that there will be two questions that are asked of every person who stands before God: What did you do with God’s Son? And, how did you manage the “stuff” entrusted to you? We often think of stewardship in terms of money. It is that, but it is much more. What did you do with your most precious commodity entrusted to you…the gift of time? Did you leverage it well for the glory of God…or twitter it away on less significant interests?
Teach us Lord to number our days so that we will prove to have been wise in how we managed them for your glory. Amen.
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