Psalm 90:12 Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Life is short and this is said in comparison with the life after here. When you compare both periods, you see that life on earth is very short. In the scripture above, David asks that we are taught to number our days for a purpose – to gain a heart of wisdom. Whenever you think you have a lot of time, it is easier to procrastinate and keep rescheduling what you need to do now. However, once you know you have limited time, you would be in a hurry to do many things before your time is up. When you have the brevity of life in mind, you live with wisdom.
One point worthy of notice is that we are created for a purpose and we came to earth on a mission. Everyone has a unique assignment. Ephesians 2:10, Jeremiah 1:5, and Jeremiah 29:11 are scriptures to support this. The question is: Are we working towards that assignment? According to Philippians 3:20, we are citizens of heaven and in 2 Corinthians 5:20, we are Christ’s ambassadors. Most people are taking life casually and this is as a result of ignorance concerning the brevity of life.
Did you know that if a person lived for 100 years, they would not have spent up to a million hours? There are 24 hours in a day and 365 days in a year, so we spend 24×365=8760 hours in a year. If you turn 100 years, you have spent 8760×100=876000. You get to spend a million hours when you turn 114 years and a few months. How many people live till that age? I’ll leave you to answer that.
That’s not my point because true life is not how long you live but how impactful you have been even if it’s a short time you live. Back to the main idea: ASSIGNMENT AND PURPOSE. How many hours in a day out of the 24 do you use to prepare yourself for that assignment God brought you on earth for. We go to school, work, bathe, eat, go to events, play games, have unnecessary conversations such as gossip, shop, cook, among many others and all of that takes time. Imagine working for 8-9 hours from Monday to Friday, getting to rest on weekends. How many hours- I ask again do we spend working on that calling, assignment, purpose, or vision. If care is not taken, we end up spending more time on things that are not significant to eternity.
Habakkuk 2:2-3 says, Then the Lord replied: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it lingers, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay. The appointed time is a predestined time set by God but a herald would have to run with the vision. The word run is an action word and running is an activity that uses a lot of energy. This means that we determine our time of manifestation. If the herald refuses to run, time is still moving. The more time we waste, the more we have to make up for that time. Romans 8:19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. The creation is not waiting for God’s manifestation but the manifestation of God’s children.
2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. This means the problem is not with God but with us. We determine the time of our emergence. Sometimes, when I remember doing things that were not helpful to me, I cringe. One day, God told me: You’re wasting your own time. I was struggling with certain behaviors and addictions that were really a waste of my own time. I had to let go of them but I kept saying no and unknowingly, I was wasting my time. I thought there was no way I could overcome those things. Now, even though I still get tempted, I just think to myself: This is going to be another cycle of doing the wrong thing and asking for forgiveness over and over. So, I either look for a sermon to listen to, pray, read a book or sit behind my keyboard to learn a new concept. Either way, I am making good use of the time.
Ephesians 5:15-17 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. I have a friend who constantly said he wasn’t scared to die. I was amazed and wondered when I would get there. I realized I couldn’t say that because I wasn’t sure where I was going to spend eternity. So I wondered what could cure this fear of death. In this scripture, wisdom is linked to making the most of opportunities and once you don’t understand what the Lord’s will is, you become a fool based on this passage of scripture. So, I concluded that you cannot do God’s will and go to hell. That was the conviction of this friend and because I knew I was living for myself, I couldn’t boldly make that statement.
1 John 2:17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. In Proverbs 6:6, we are admonished to look to the ant. The reason is that the ant prepares for the future. While the weather is great today, the ant doesn’t just live in the moment but considers the fact that it would be winter soon and it wouldn’t be able to go out for food. In the same vein, because we know that we wouldn’t be here forever, we must prepare for the life after here and it will depend on how we use our time now.
It is easy to think we have time especially if we are young. The older a person gets, the more value they place on time because they take stock of their lives so far and realize which actions were a waste of time. Don’t wait till you are about to turn 30 before you start taking God seriously because you want a spouse. I have seen that a lot of times in the lives of many people. Start the journey to knowing God early because it takes time. Create time for the development of that talent, skill, or ability. Create time for studying about that ministry God has called you to be in. 1 Corinthians 9:24: Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! There is still hope to use the time ahead of you wisely. Desire to know God’s purpose for your life and walk in it while you’re alive.
Romans 13:11 And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
The Word In Clarity 