Number Our Days

Number Our Days

At 103 years old, Mabel sat in her chair with clear eyes and a worn Bible on her lap. A young pastor visiting asked her what she had learned about life. She was quiet for a moment. 'I've learned that it goes faster than you think,' she said. 'When I was your age I thought I had endless time. But time is the most precious thing we have, and we give it away to the most unimportant things.' She paused. 'Moses prayed for a heart of wisdom. He prayed it when he was already very old. But I think we need it when we are young.' She tapped the Bible. 'Number your days. Not to fear them. To make them count.'

Psalm 90 is attributed to Moses — and it is the oldest psalm in the Psalter. It is a meditation on human transience in light of God's eternity. Moses surveys the brevity of life — 'like grass' — and then makes a request that seems almost paradoxical: teach us to count our days. You might expect: teach us to lengthen them. Instead: teach us to count them. The request is for a heart of wisdom, and Moses connects that wisdom directly to awareness of mortality. We live more intentionally when we know we are mortal. The question 'What are you doing with your days?' is not morbid — it is the question that unlocks purpose. You have been given a finite, irreplaceable number of days. January is ending. Thirty-one of them are gone. How will you number the ones ahead?