Psalm 90 is a prayer of Moses. In verse 12 Moses implores God to “teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
Are you amazed as I am about how quickly life passes by? Each month goes by in a blink.
Some people have the daily habit of X-ing out the prior day on a wall calendar. I have always found the idea of doing that slightly depressing. It strikes me as though I’d be saying, “Thank goodness THAT day is over!”
That’s why I enjoyed reading Robert D. Smith’s book 20,000 Days and Counting. This counting up is a more positive and motivating way of looking at our days. Of course, no one knows how many days each of us has left to live on this earth. It’s the idea of the unknown number that provides joy and anticipation in each new day.
The author stated that when he himself reached 20,000 days (that’s age 54.8 in case you’re interested), it was a wake-up call to remember that life is short; he wanted to gain an eternal perspective of his life. His book is about ways to ensure he (and his readers) live each day fully.
I embrace his idea of waking up to a rainy day. He suggests, “Look at that rain as if it’s the last time you’ll ever see it.” Imagine how beautiful those drops would be from that perspective.
Counting up. Looking forward to how we can fill our hours and days instead of X-ing out the days and regretting what we didn’t do yesterday or last week.
I encourage you to read the book. There is a wonderful and free online reader’s guide at http://www.therobertd.com/downloads/readers-guides/20000_Days_Readers_Guide_editable.pdf.
On page 44 of that guide, you’ll see Smith’s list of seven questions to help us “seize the essence of today.” My three favorites are:
~~Whose life will I brighten today?
~~What memories will I create today?
~~What value will I create today?
So what is your personal number of days lived as of today? Mine is 24,276. Don’t worry about finding an app to do that calculation. Smith provides an easy counter on http://www.therobertd.com/the-book/
Make the most of every day! Otherwise, we may end up like Moses says earlier in Psalm 90, verse 9: “We finish our years with a sigh.”
There will be no need for sighing at the end of the year when we have numbered our days and gained wisdom-filled hearts!
To my readers: How would you answer any one of the above three “seize the essence” questions?
