Teach Us How To Number Our Days

NEW YEAR SERMON FOR 2022

Psalms 90:12; “12 So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom. 13 Return, O LORD! How long? And have compassion on Your servants. 14 Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy, That we may rejoice and be glad all our days! 15 Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us, The years in which we have seen evil. 16 Let Your work appear to Your servants, And Your glory to their children. 17 And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us, And establish the work of our hands for us; Yes, establish the work of our hands.

We want to thank God for another new year. If Jesus tarries, we celebrate many more New Years in good health. And in every year there will be new births, new marriages, new buildings, and many new things will happen in every year. There will also be anniversaries; birthday anniversaries, weddings anniversaries, there will be naming ceremonies, memorials, relocations etc. will always come. My prayer is that we will always have joyous situations and celebrations throughout this year IJMN.

I want us to know that every day of our lives is an anniversary, in fact every minute, hour is an anniversary, we don’t spend one day two times, we grow older every day, and there is no day exactly like the other

The plateau years of 30, 40, 50, 60 come too fast and if care is not taken, one may be wondering that after 70 years and may say “Where has my life gone?” The book of James 4:14 says 14 How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.

Psalms 90:5 also says “You sweep people away like dreams that disappear. They are like grass that springs up in the morning. 6 In the morning it blooms and flourishes, but by evening it is dry and withered.

One way or the only way to avoid anyone to say “Where has my life or years gone on getting to 60 and above is what the Psalmist wrote in verse 12; God teach us how to number our days.

From this verse alone we could see that

1. The world that we are in is a school.

The world is a learning center. It is a school, an institution where we learn. We are in the world to learn. A school is a place of leaning. When Moses wrote “teach us”, he was living on the earth. He wanted to learn as student from a teacher; “teach us”, because it is obvious that we don’t know, it is obvious that we are ignorant.

So it means that if you are living on this earth, like Moses and others during his time, you need knowledge, you are in a school, you are supposed to learn, you are supposed to be a student. Proverbs 12:1; says “12 Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge, But he who hates correction is stupid.

Wherever you find yourself, that is your classroom, your own learning center.

If the world is a learning center, it means we need to know three (3) things.

a. We must be teachable.

We should please be teachable. We must have a teachable spirit. In a school there are students and there are teachers. The teachers impact knowledge, they teach while the students receive knowledge and learn. If you don’t have a teachable spirit, if you a disobedient student, you may find yourself in a place where you don’t like. Students must possess the spirit of obedience, humility and love. Let people see the fruit of the spirit manifesting in every area of your life.

If the world is learning center.

b. Know your grade/class;

In a school ever body is not in the same grade or class. There are different grades in schools. So don’t compare yourself with another individual because you may not be in the same grade. One of the major problems that we have in the world today is comparing ourselves with others because we forget that we are all students and we cannot be in this same grade. If you are looking at people that are richer than you today, also remember that you are richer than some people as well. Different people different grades.

If a pastor that is just starting his ministry wants to be like some pastors that have started years ago, he wants to have the same number of people in his congregation, he wants to build the same type of church building, use the same cars, have protocols like them! There will be problems!

In the church, don’t compare yourself with another, it brings envy and jealousy. Someone who is just starting out should not compare himself to someone that has been on the journey for some time. Don’t envy anyone; you cannot become what you despise!