Teach Us to Number Our Days
I don’t know if it’s the almost-25 blues, but lately, I’ve found myself reflecting on the meaning of life and how to live it well. What defines a life lived well, and what that looks like for me.
If there were a top 20 list of my favourite Psalms, Psalm 90:12 would make that list: “Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
My first introduction to the concept of numbering our days wasn’t this verse though. It was a song by Willow Smith (secular artiste, but walk with me), where she sings that her days are numbered. I liked that line of the song, but I couldn’t say it out loud, especially around Nigerians who acted like you were wishing death upon yourself.
At 16, I had many years ahead of me as the Lord wills, but for some reason, I lived in constant awareness that life on earth was finite. Imagine my delight when I read Psalm 90, written thousands of years ago by a man of God named Moses.
So numbering our days is biblical. But understanding what this actually means for how we live matters. What does it mean for God to teach us to number our days? What does this training look like?
Firstly, it means the days of our lives can, in fact, be numbered. It means this life as we know it will one day come to an end. Whether we’re here when He returns or we meet Him before then, this life as we know it will end. James reminds us of the frailty of life in James 4:14, “You do not know what your life will be tomorrow. You are just a vapour that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.” Knowing this, that we don’t have the luxury of unlimited time here, should lead us toward the path of wisdom.
Let’s do a quick exegesis of Ephesians 5:15-16 — “Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.”
Be careful how you walk: Let’s use the example of a video game. There’s a way you play when the character has unlimited or a certain amount of lives, and how you play when they don’t have many. Your decisions become more calculated and intentional. But life is even more consequential than a mere video game. How we spend the time God has allotted to each of us matters not only on earth, but eternally.
One verse that is etched in your memory if you grew up Pentecostal is “Each of us will give account of himself to God.” It matters greatly to the One who gave us this life how we live it. And if you believe in Him, you belong to Him, and must then live for Him.
Not as unwise men but as wise: There is the way of the unwise and there is the way of the wise. The unwise has little to no regard for time nor the God who gave it to them, and so they live on their own terms, partaking in things that profit little, with no discernment of the will of God. But one thing that distinguishes the wise from the unwise is that they know what the will of God is. Verse 17 of Ephesians 5 tells us that an understanding of the will of God is a remedy against foolishness: “So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”
Making the most of your time: The quickest example that came to mind when I read this line was a tube of toothpaste. If, like me, you grew up in an African household where things were used till their last drop to make sure you got as much use as possible out of them, then you’re familiar with the toothpaste example. What if we treated life that way? What if we knew that every moment matters, so we sought to do as much as possible with the time we have? Dying empty, having fully spent ourselves for Jesus, requires an incredible amount of wisdom and redeeming the time.
Time requiring redemption is an interesting phenomenon. To redeem is to purchase or to buy up from the possession or power of anyone. To redeem is to set free. And in this context, it means to rescue or recover our time from waste.
Because the days are evil: What’s the purpose of living intentionally, walking in wisdom, and making the most of our time? Because the times we live in are evil, full of temptations, indulgences, and distractions desiring to lead us away from God. There are so many things, both bad and almost-good, beckoning us to waste our time and lives on them. So, we have to be mindful how we live and what we give our time and attention to.
Back to Psalm 90, how then do we gain a heart of wisdom? By numbering our days and redeeming our time. And how do we do this? By spending the days of our God-given lives loving Him and loving others. Time spent in prayer and fellowship is never a waste. Time spent doing God’s will is time spent well.
My prayer for us this year is simple: May we be faithful stewards of the time God has given us. May we always remember that just as our lives are not our own, neither is our time. May we be discerning servants, ready to do the will of our Master whenever, wherever, and with whomever. May we be faithful.
