Making Each Day Count

“Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” *

For some unknown reason, our dogs have been waking up earlier than usual, scratching on the door of their room to let us know that they need to go outside. Their wakeup time used to be consistently around 7:30 or 7:45 a.m. which fit in fine with our schedule. After that, they would eat, go outside again and then come back in to resume their naps.  The only exception was daylight savings. No one told them about the time change!

Lately though the door scratching has started earlier, much earlier. I heard TJ at 5:00 a.m. a few days ago. It was still very dark and freezing cold, but he was ready to go outside. Instead of feeding TJ and Teddy when they came back into the house, I shut their door and turned out the light. They curled up on their beds and went back to sleep without any problem. It was harder for me though.

Al and I are finally getting the message: we need to go to bed earlier too!

I’m one of those people who do best with about eight hours of sleep every night. The daytime and evening hours are filled with all sorts of things to do. No time for napping. Anything less than eight hours tends to wear me down in a hurry.

             My life was starting to feel somewhat like riding on a Merry Go Round when this verse from Psalm 90 caught my attention. “Teach us to number our days…” The thought of numbering our days was interesting! We keep track of our age by years, but not by the days we have lived.

            How many days had I lived so far? With a little calculation, it came out to be 26,182. I’ve never read a book with that many pages. It would be huge! My big NIV Study Bible has close to 2,000 pages and weighs about three pounds. Imagine one more than ten times the size. Well, it’s been a long life!

When Al and I were attending a funeral years ago, a distant relative made an interesting statement. He said, ““I know the beginning of my life and I know the end… it’s just the middle that I can’t remember!” The years all seem to flow together, don’t they?

 But how do I number my days “aright” so that I might gain a heart of wisdom? It is one thing to figure out how many days I’ve lived. It’s quite another to live in a way that is pleasing to God every day.

The words “teach us” hold one clue. Jesus’ disciples referred to Him as “teacher” and a great deal of his three years of ministry was spent doing just that. The Holy Spirit has been given to us to open our minds to understanding the scriptures as we spend time studying, reading and reflecting on them. God will give us wisdom as we ask and seek for it.

Counting my days makes each one seem important, new, a great opportunity for growing in wisdom. Instead of feeling worn out and discouraged, like going in circles and getting nowhere, numbering them encourages me to keep on going strong through the power of the Holy Spirit. And those early morning hours have afforded new opportunities to spend in reading the Bible and in prayer.

Well, one of these days, the page numbering will stop and my life here on earth will be over. But my life with God will continue on, my name written in his Book of Life because of his wonderful gift of salvation. Picture this: Jesus reading through the pages of the Book of Life, rejoicing over each name, over each life represented therein, knowing that because of his death and resurrection each of those people would be spending eternity with him.

 “Dear Father, thank you for the gift of each new day. Please help me gain a heart of wisdom as I walk through life here on earth with you. May I learn from my mistakes; may I have the grace to forgive those who hurt me; may I seek to know you and to help your kingdom grow. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

*Ps. 90:12 NIV