Teach Us To Number Our Days

HoHum:

Death is just a door to the joy that is awaiting, death is just a shadow into everlasting life, death is often thought of as a very sad occasion, for the child of God it’s just a door to brand new life.

WBTU:

Psalm 90:10, 12: “Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away…Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Teach us to number our days, here we are confronted with life’s earthly limit. Seventy or eighty years- or eighteen- who knows how long our days will be? We must all be accountants and mathematicians in the best sense. Like retailers we must frequently take stock in order to see where we are in our earthly life. Everyone of us will come to his last day. We will all die as long as Lord tarries. Hebrews 9:27 says, “people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.” Our time on earth is short. We are asked to number our days- not our weeks, months, years, but our days. We are so prone to forget this numbering and we fail to gain a heart of wisdom.

Thesis: Why should we number our days?

For instances:

1. We should number our days because of the shortness of life.

Life is brief. James 4:14 “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” Under normal circumstances we have 70 to 80 years but no guarantee of this. First part of James 4:14 “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.” Job 14:1, Job said, "Mortals, born of woman, are of few days and full of trouble.” Job also talks about the swiftness of our days. Job 9:25 “My days are swifter than a runner; they fly away without a glimpse of joy.” Job 7:6 Job says, “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and they come to an end without hope.” Not many in weaving today but every time the shuttle goes from side to side, this weaves a thread into the cloth. Each day adds another thread to the web of life- and what is our life but a collection of days? One day the garment will be finished and we will be gone. How few and fast our days pass.

2. We should number our days because of the incompleteness of life- Many come to the end with several incomplete projects. Michelangelo completed only 14 of the 44 statues he began. The 30 he did not complete can be seen in a museum in Italy. Among these can be seen a leg, an arm, a head, and the shoulder, but the rest of the body never emerged from the stone. An unfinished painting by Raphael was carried in his funeral procession. Franz Hubert left behind an unfinished symphony. Abraham never lived to see his seed inherit the promised land. David was not permitted to build the Temple. Moses viewed the promised land from a distance but was not permitted to cross Jordan. Starting a new project- are we able to finish it? Never know so need to be wise. Luke 12:15-21: life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” And he (Jesus) told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” What will happen to our possessions when we die? Ecclesiastes 2:21: “For a person may labor with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then they must leave all they own to another who has not toiled for it. This… is meaningless and a great misfortune.”

3. We should number our days because of the uncertainty of life.

Proverbs 27:1: “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.” When we begin a day there is no guarantee that we will complete it. Death can come suddenly and without warning. I’m told that 5% of deaths today are completely sudden and without warning. It is amazing that in our day people put off talking about death even thought we all know it is coming- 100% mortality rate. Make no preparations and shocked when it happens even though they are well beyond 80 years old. Many live like the farmer who built the bigger barns. No thought of eternal matters. No thought of what will become of my things if I were to die. No thought of family or those who are less fortunate. No thought of hell or heaven. Many minimize the role of faith and God- all faiths deal with death but with no involvement in religion and church, death is not addressed- death is often talked about in worship services- need a minister for the funeral but even moving away from this-