I once met a lady who told me, “As long as you don’t ask me how long
I’ve lived, how much I weigh, or how much I make, we will get along just
fine.” She went on to say, “As you can
tell, I’m not a numbers gal.”
Indeed. She’s not alone. It seems we sure don’t like numbers these
days.
Yet, the Bible isn’t afraid of numbers.
It spills ages, army sizes, population counts, festival lengths, journey
times, and more. And to top it all off:
it says, before I was born, my days were
numbered:
“Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” (Psalm 139:16)
The Bible even encourages me to number
my days. Apparently, it makes us
wise:
“So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12)
Considering I would like to acquire wisdom, and since I have always
found God and His Word to lead me in the right direction, I will endeavor (on
this special day, my 31st birthday) to publicly number my days, in
obedience to Him. Here we go. Let’s see…
Life begins at conception. I was
born on June 20, 1981. I am now 31. There have been 8 leap days since my birth. Ok, if I do the math [270 + (31*365) + 8], I
have been alive… 11,593 days.
So, what’s the point of this exercise?
The Bible says, part of knowing that my days are numbered, and then
numbering my days, is to recognize that my
days are relatively few:
“O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am!” (Psalm 39:4)
Now, I’m not sure of my exact end.
But we do know that the average life expectancy for a male from Texas is
75.68 years (roughly 27,912 days). And
the Bible says I shouldn’t expect to live any more than 120 years, given the
state of sinful humanity (roughly 44,100 days; cf. Genesis 6:3). By these counts, I have lived, at the very least,
25-40% of my life. That’s a sobering thought.
In college, I attended a concert where a modern piece by an American
composer was being performed for the first time. I don’t remember the name of the composer,
the name of the piece, or even how the piece sounded. But I do remember his motivation for writing
it. Apparently, on his 28th
birthday, he learned that a comet was passing by earth and completing its
76-year tour of the galaxy. And he dared
ask: “That comet has seen the universe in such a short time. So what am I doing with my life?”
I think that’s the aim of the whole “number your days” thinking. It dares us to ask the same. In fact, I thought of several more reasons why
it’s healthy to number our days:
First, we see that our life is a gift.
Every day has purpose. Life is
not meant to be wasted. Even on days
when I think “Today is just not my day,” I can still recall: "This is His
day that He's made. Joy can still be
found in it” (Psalm 118:24).
Secondly, we understand rightly that our days are (literally &
figuratively) numbered. It changes our
perspective on the decisions we make, what we do with our time, and even how we
spend that not-for-public-discussion paycheck.
Lest we also hear: “Fool! This
night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose
will they be?” (Luke 12:13-21).
Thirdly, we are humbled. The
Bible compares our lifespans to withering grass, fading flowers, vanishing
mist, and mere breath—all this in comparison to an everlasting God. Moreover, we will stand before this God and
give an account for what we have done with our days (Romans 14:12).
Fourthly, we sense urgency. We
are more likely to make things right before the sun goes down, and to redeem
the time (Ephesians 4:26; 5:15). We are
less likely to leave things unsaid, to let things go undone—to let life go
unlived, especially given the options of abundant, fruitful, and eternal life.
I’m sure there are many other reasons.
But I haven’t laid full claim to that heart of wisdom yet, as I just
started counting. In the meantime, it’s
also been fun to see where I’ve been (my birthday blogs from 2010 & 2011). I
celebrated my 30th birthday twice!
Ok, so what equation should I use to factor that in?
Lord,
as this song goes, teach me to count the days...teach me to make the days
count…lead me in better ways…somehow, my soul forgot…life means so much…
