"The length of our days is seventy years- or eighty if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away....Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90:10, 12
This morning I'm reading Psalms 90 and I came to these words. Most of us have heard these words many times before. It's a reality we all know, but don't want to discuss- life is short! The part of the passage I want to talk about is the very end..."teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." I thought it interesting that the right response to knowing our lives are short is to be aware of that in our own lives and gain wisdom by that awareness. What wisdom? What do I gain from knowing I'm nearly done here? How will that give me wisdom? In one way it helps us look at our lives and decisions more clearly. If we are only here for a few years, and then eternity ahead, how should we live TODAY? How should that affect my decisions about how I use my day, my relationships, my moments? I don't want to be morbid here, but I do want to live with an awareness that this life is short and it's the only time I am free to make eternal decisions about God, my life and those around me. To be aware that a decision today might have eternal results changes how I look at everything. For me, it has motivated me to focus on the days one at a time. Living well so I can finish well. I don't always succeed at this, but I want to. I want to leave a deep impression after I'm gone.....not in the world, not in the news for some great achievement, but in the lives of other people. Deep impressions that will motivate them to eternal decisions. Wisdom is living in light of our few years and their impact on eternity. It does matter, they are important. Live well!
2 comments:
Thank you Mike, I needed that today.
Life is a paradox. On one hand we have the relentless grind of daily living in the world, with its responsibilities, commitments, struggles, etc...(please let me know if you have a way around this) On the other hand we have the ability to slow down and center ourselves with a timeless moment of just being alive. The more we let oursevles detach from "the world", the more free we will be and the happier. Although it is certainly a balance, most of us dont have the luxury of just doing what our heart tells us becaue we have to put food on the table by selling or widgets or closing our deals, etc...
When you are in the thick of life, it isnt about being on one or the other sides, it is about finding balance to survie on both playing fields. This is why the yin/yang, balance, light and dark, good and bad, are so important to understand. It isnt one or the other, it is a constant balance between the two. If you have the ability to be purely one or the other, well then you are God or Satan, not a human.
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