Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. –Psalm 90:12
Some years ago, I was at a Bible study where the leader suggested that while a headstone shares the birth and death dates of the person, life is what happens in the dash between the dates.
The art of good living and the quest to live longer surround us. Modern medicine lengthens life, heals innumerable diseases, and is now suggesting that babies born today may see a life expectancy of 150 years. But the truth is that no one really knows how many days a person will see on this earth. I heard of a friend whose great-great grandmother passed away at the age of 105, while another friend lost his college-aged daughter in a tragic car accident. Still another friend has a baby clinging to life after an emergency delivery. In this life, we have no guarantees about our length of years.
Scripture is full of reminders that life is brief. Even a full life of one hundred years is nothing in light of eternity. James 4:14 reads, “What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” Psalm 103:15 records, “As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more.”
Knowing this, how can we waste even one day? Life is precious and our days are numbered. Today we are living somewhere in the dash between birth and death. The question is: what are we doing with our dash?
GOING DEEPER:
1. When it comes to making the most of each day, what opportunities are we most likely to overlook?
2. Life is precious. Identify at least two ways you can better live your life and then commit to act on them.
FURTHER READING:
James 4:13-17; Psalm 39:4-7; Ephesians 5:16-17