"Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom" (Psalm 90:12).
God gives us all 24 hours in each day: 1,440 minutes. With that amount, even if we give the Lord 20 minutes a day, we would have 1,420 left for everything else! By “numbering our days,” the Lord intends for us to think prudently about a seventy-year life span, even though we cannot be sure how many of these allotted years each of us will have.
A Christian should certainly make long-range plans, for we need to be good stewards of our precious fleeting moments. But this must all be done with the ever-present realization that God has plans for us. Our times are in His hands.
James reminds us that we “do not even know what will happen tomorrow,” so we “ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that’” (Jas. 4:14-15). As we develop and cultivate a moment-by-moment dependency on God and a submissive attitude to His will, Satan’s bait of pleasure or presumption is less and less appealing, and we can avoid His time trap. As one of my favorite hymns says:
Take my life and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee;
Take my moments and my days -
Let them flow in ceaseless praise.
- Frances R. Havergal
PRAYER
Lord, please help me number my days. Help me to practically use the minutes and hours of my day laid out before You, to be a blessing to others and to allow others to bless. As Your Word says You are with me as I go about the business of my day, may I allow You to walk with me in all my moments. I praise You and love You Lord. Amen.
