Your Days Are Numbered

 

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12

“I’m five-and-a-half,” boasted the preschooler when asked his age. His older sister rolled her eyes. “Well, I’m nine-and-three-quarters,” she announced. Adults hide indulgent smiles in hearing the nit-picky details children give about their ages; and yet, maybe the kids are on to something. Children are extremely conscious of the passing of time. Every minute feels like an hour to a child before Christmas. They have a low threshold for boredom; a ten-minute time-out can feel like a life sentence. We excuse it as childish impatience, but maybe this is exactly what scripture is telling us to do.

Imagine that you learned you have only a week to live. How would you spend the next 7 days? Before you think about lavish vacations or a nonstop party, remember what immediately follows your last breath (Heb. 9:27). To leave this season of life is to step into the next season—eternity. We will each stand before God to give an account of ourselves. He has been numbering our days whether we have or not. When we live with eternity in mind, our priorities shift. We make wiser decisions that have eternal significance. Numbering our days means we view this earthly life as the season in which we prepare for the next.

If you knew your time on earth was short, how would you fill your final days? 

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Eternity

The sun slips behind the golden wheat field and you feel it.
Ocean waves lap gently against on a deserted beach and you hear it.
Countless stars dot a black sky and you catch a glimpse.
An ancient woman, covered in wrinkles,
reaches for the hand of the man she's spent 80 years with
and for an instant, the light in her face
reminds you of something.

It's there and then it's gone, like an apparition. But you knew it. It was there. It was real. In that instant, it was more real than the material world.

Glimpses of eternity.

Our souls were created to live forever.
The breath of the living God brought them to life
and they struggle within the fleshly houses,
seeking opportunities to connect with what they know.

The eternal One breathed life into dust
and those living souls know their Creator,
regardless of what the mind tells them.

Voices strive to drown out that knowledge.
Education, philosophy, rationalization,
and outright denial shout "No" and seek other explanations,
but none is found.

Buried deep within every heart is that kernel of eternity,
the conviction that there is more,
and despite every attempt to kill it,
eternity springs to life
whenever it catches a glimpse of its reflection on earth.

• Isn't it strange that though we may define it differently, we all know what beauty is?
• We long to love and be loved.
• There is within every human heart the desire to worship something bigger than ourselves, to show honor, respect, and reverence.

Mankind has done everything possible to erase this insistent yearning for eternity, but it does no good. We feel it anyway.

You can redefine it, explain it away, ignore it, or hate it
but the truth remains:
We are eternal and we know it.

Next time that insistent ache stirs in your chest, stop a moment.
Lift your hands and smile.

Whisper the secret you both know:
"I'm coming soon, God. We'll be together forever. Thank you that I am eternal."