“So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” Psalm 90:12
Imagine a piece of string. Now imagine, however long that string is, it represents the length of your life, from when you were born to the day you die. Most of us know the date and year we were born, and perhaps we celebrate it each birthday with family and friends as a regular landmark, or milestone. Perhaps the older we get the less we celebrate it, and the more we commemorate it! But none of us know the date or time that our natural lives on this earth will end. Nevertheless, if we were to say that half of that piece of string represents the length of time we have already been alive. The other half represents what is still to come. Now let us say we will sleep for one third of that; another third to a half is spent at or traveling to and from work. The remaining third or so represents the time we are not asleep or committed to be ‘working for a living.’ That is taken up with relaxation, spending time with friends, going shopping, going to worship Yehovah, etc. That, in itself, may make you realise how valuable what you may term as “spare” time actually is. It has been said that time is more valuable than money or things. After all, you can get more money and more things, but you cannot get more time. Scripture tells us to “redeem the time”, in Ephesians 5:16, “because the days are evil” and, in Colossians 4:5, with regard to our relationship with non-believers and the witness we are to them of the goodness and grace of Yehovah. We are instructed to make the most of every opportunity that comes our way, not to “waste” time, or merely “pass the time of day” as if it were something of little or no value. None of us know the length of string, or length of time we have left in front of us. In Psalm 90:12 the psalmist prays that Yehovah would “…teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” Because you do not know how many days you have left to serve your Saviour on this earth, before He comes again or comes to call you home to live with Him in Heaven, you must ask Yehovah to give you daily wisdom to make the very most of every moment you have remaining to glorify Him and to live as He would have you live, doing what He would have you do. That is true, heart-felt wisdom, indeed.