One Life
So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. Psalm 92:12
Teach us how short our lives are so that we can become wise. Psalm 92:12 (ERV)
Today, August 14, is the 226th day of 2026. 226 days have passed since the year began. Those days are now behind us. We have that many less days ahead of us.
19 days ago, I used an app to start a countdown to achieve certain key goals in the church by June 2030. The day I started there were 1422 days. Now there are 1403. Every day I record the number of days ahead in my journal to help me stay on track to reach these goals. Each day, I want to accomplish at least one thing to move forward toward this future, no wasted days. It helps me keep perspective. It helps keep me motivated.
Moses asked God to teach us (all of us) to number our days so that we may get a heart of wisdom. One version puts it this way, “teach us how short our days are.” This is a path toward wisdom.
There are a couple of ways of looking at this:
1. In a negative way, a kind of in a morbid way – which can be a bit depressing. Life is short. It passes too quickly. One day there be no more. (This is no fun to write, so let’s move on)
2. In a positive way, a “this is an opportunity" way. God gives us life daily for us to choose how to use it. Each day is a gift. He is with us. Look forward with faith and hope.
How we look at it is up to us.
Our theme this year at Bridges is “One Life”. It is based on the verse above. God has given each of us life, one life each. It is precious and invaluable because each of us is unique. God is writing His story in our lives. He knows the number of days we have and what will happen already. It is in His book. We do not know what He knows. We only know that He is trustworthy.
With only so much time ahead, our thoughts should not only be for ourselves, but for the people around us. They, too, only have one life to live. Are we making the most of every opportunity to impact the lives of people for God’s Kingdom? Do the people around us know Jesus?
Jesus only had 33 or so years to live on earth. He made the most of every opportunity and yet He also found time to be with friends, enjoy a party here and there and celebrate. He lived every day with purpose. He showed us how to live.
As we were cleaning out my father-in-law's house, we can across many boxes of stuff – pictures, articles, old things. In one, we found a scrapbook that Stacey had put together from our first year together including wedding pictures, a couple of ticket stubs from our first date, things like that, all things we had stored at his house for years. That was our life then; these things told the story of our beginning, how God brought us together, how He continues to guide us, and are still part of who we are now. Many of those things happened over 13,000 days ago. God is teaching us to number our days.
God is a teacher, and He has much to show us. The passing of time is one of the ways He does that. Time is an object lesson on life.
Not sure how many days are ahead. That is one of the mysteries of life. None of us know.
But more and more, I trust God that what is ahead will be good because He is good. We have a long track record with Him. He has always been faithful. We know from day-to-day experience that we can trust Him, therefore, there is no reason to worry.
Life will be full of purpose and meaning. He will be with me each step of the way. The future is something to look forward to without neglecting the present. Walking day by day with Jesus makes each day worthwhile.
We have today. Let us make the most of this one day with a heart of wisdom.