Learning to Number Your Days

[Laela]

Learning to Number Your Days
Written by Mary Whelchel
February 13, 2012


How many days do you have left? That's a very sobering, somewhat unsettling question, isn't it? We don't like to think about the fact that our days here on this earth are numbered. Oh, we all know the number behind us-how many days we've lived already. But thinking about how many are left-well, that's not something we think about too often.

In fact, most of us live as though our days are without number. If confronted, we would all admit that our days are numbered, but our actions and lifestyles reveal a lack of attention to that fact.

In Psalm 39:4, David wrote:
"Show me, O Lord, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life."

And in Psalm 90:12 Moses prayed:
"Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom."

These men of God were not asking for a gift of prophecy, but rather for a change in perspective. They understood that living in the knowledge of how fleeting life is becomes a life-changing attitude, and they recognized that this attitude doesn't come naturally to anyone. So they prayed for the ability to number their days.

I would suggest that all of us need to pray this prayer daily: "Lord, teach me to number my days correctly." You see, how you number your days has everything to do with how you live your life! Let me try to illustrate this for you:

Let's say that today you go to your job and you learn that a coworker has been given a promotion that you deserve. That is hurtful and your natural reaction is anger, retribution, self-defense. You feel as though your life has been ruined.

But suppose you knew you only had five more days here on this earth. Would that loss of promotion have much, if any, effect on you? No, I doubt it, because since your days are few, a lost promotion isn't really important, is it?

That's what David and Moses meant when they prayed, "Let me know how fleeting is my life." You see, they knew that this was an attitude that had to come from God because it is not a natural, human tendency to number our days aright. Moses prayed "Teach me to number my days aright," and we need to sign up for that course as well. It is an attitude that has to be learned and imposed into our lives, but when we learn this lesson, we gain a heart of wisdom.

Our everyday lives are greatly affected for the good when we truly can number our days correctly.

 

[la mosca]

Wonderful, sobering post. This has blessed me!

 

[Iwanthealthyhair67]

very sobering indeed .....

 

[Shimmie]

"That which I do not see, teach thou me; [and] where I have 'sinned' I will do no more." Job 34:32

 

[Laela]

Learning to Number Your Days
Written by Mary Whelchel
Feb. 14, 2012

All of us tend to live as though these days here on earth are numberless, don't we? We just don't naturally think about the fact that our days on earth will not go on forever.

But as David wrote in Psalm 39:5.
"You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man's life is but a breath."

And again in Psalm 103:15-16:
"As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more."

David is not telling us that our lives have no meaning, but rather he is reminding us that whether we have five days, five years, or fifty-five years remaining in these numbered days, they are very few compared to the numberless days ahead of us. And as we saw, both he and Moses asked God to teach them to number their days; to help them live in the knowledge that life is short.

Let me illustrate how life-changing it is to number your days aright. Suppose you find out today what someone said about you, and it is untrue, unfair and unkind. Your feelings are hurt. You want to say something bad about him or her in return. But if you stop and number your days, it changes your reaction. You're not as likely to want retribution, your anger dissipates, your stress goes down. When you remember to number your days, you realized that someone's hurtful words cannot affect your numberless days yet to come.

From time to time we all get criticisms that are not constructive. If you're like me, you want to defend yourself immediately. But God is teaching me to number my days when I'm criticized unfairly and say to myself: "What difference does it make, Mary? Life is short; you have other eternally important things to do." Then I can let it go and get on with doing important things that matter rather than wasting time and energy on something inconsequential.

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

When you number your days correctly, it makes you wise rather than foolish, it reduces your stress, it saves your energy, it causes you to react correctly, it gives you the upper hand in any situation.

 

[Laela]

la mosca... ITA.. this is sobering to me as well... stay blessed, chica!

Wonderful, sobering post. This has blessed me!

 

[Laela]

Learning to Number Your Days
Written by Mary Whelchel
February 15, 2012


I've been trying to enroll you in a very important math course that will change your life. It's "new math" for most of us, because not many of us know how to do it. It's called "Numbering Your Days."

In Psalm 90:12 Moses prayed, "Teach us to number our days aright. . ." I want to remind you of some theology that will help you learn this new math of numbering your days. It's called the Judgment Seat of Christ. This is a judgment for believers, not unbelievers.

While it's true that our works and effort do not gain us entrance into heaven, it is also true that we will be held accountable to God for how we've used the days and resources that have been entrusted to us while here on this earth. We will stand individually before Christ at this Judgment Seat and what we have done that has no eternal significance or benefit will be burned up. In 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 the Apostle Paul writes:

"For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames."

What we have done that has eternal significance will come out like gold and diamonds and precious stones which cannot be harmed by fire. But we will suffer loss at that Judgment Seat if we've lived strictly for the here and now and never learned to number our days. We will suffer loss of rewards and I'm sure, like me, you don't want to stand there with nothing to show for the numbered days you lived on earth.

Knowing about and remembering the Judgment Seat of Christ will teach you to number your days correctly. If you really want to learn how to number your days aright, read this passage from 1 Corinthians 3 every day this week. Then pray daily that God will teach you how to live in the awareness that your days are numbered and to help you live each day so that you have something of value to show for it at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

You learn how to number your days by praying this new attitude into your life, and that's how you make certain that your life's work will not go up in smoke. It's life-changing theology.

 

[Laela]

Learning to Number Your Days
Written by Mary Whelchel
Thursday Feb 16, 2012

As the Psalmist prayed, we have to learn to number our days aright; how to live with a completely new attitude; how to live now in the light of eternity.

I briefly told you about the Judgment Seat of Christ, where believers will be judged for how well they numbered their days.

This course is one that you must teach yourself, with the help of the Holy Spirit. In other words, you have to determine to embrace a new attitude toward every aspect of your life. It is a lesson you must apply every day to your life.

Often when I'm talking about how to maintain a positive attitude, I've suggested that you say to yourself "What difference will this make in 24 hours?" I've discovered that simple little phrase really helps me keep from getting upset over little things that don't really matter.

Well, let me suggest another technique that will help you and me learn this "new math" called "Numbering Our Days." Learn to ask yourself this question: "What difference will this make at the Judgment Seat of Christ?" And add to that question: "Will this go up in smoke at the Judgment Seat or will it come out as refined gold?"

Now, just imagine with me how life-changing that would be if we practiced it regularly. It would have a great impact on how we spend our time. It would have a great impact on how we spend our money. If we're spending money foolishly and failing to send it on ahead to heaven, it's going to burn up at the Judgment Seat. Focusing on the reality of the Judgment Seat of Christ will teach us to number our days.

If this sounds as though it would be life with restrictions, you're right. Numbering your days rightly will cause you and me to put boundaries in our lives. As Paul wrote, "Everything is permissible for me-but not everything is beneficial" (1 Cor. 6:12). So, we each need to set boundaries for ourselves that will help us remember to number our days. Remember, we have to learn this lesson and we must be our own teachers.

I encourage you to pray that God will help you learn to number your days rightly. It is a life-changing attitude.

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Learning to Number Your Days
Written by Mary Whelchel
Friday, February 17, 2012

I was never particularly good at math, were you? I'm really thankful for calculators! But there's a new math that I truly want to learn. It is the Bible math of learning to number my days rightly. David and Moses asked God to teach them that new math, and we need to pray for the same gift.

Numbering our days rightly means that we learn to see everything that happens in light of its meaning in eternity, where we will have numberless days. Whether we have five days left to live, or five thousand or more, they are fleeting and brief and very short compared to numberless days.

Yet what we do with our few numbered days will have a great impact on our numberless days. The Bible teaches us that every believer will stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ to give an account of how we've used the time and resources given to us during our numbered days. If we've been good stewards, we'll receive rewards, crowns, and words of commendation from our Lord. If not, all our numbered days activities will go up in smoke, and the Bible says we will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.

Note this passage from 2 Peter 3:10-12:
"But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.

"Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming."

Numbering our days rightly produces holy and godly lives, and that kind of life is good for the Judgment Seat because it will not go up in smoke but will produce jewels and gold. But not only is it good for numberless days, living a holy and godly life is the best thing for us while we're still in these numbered days.

Living "holy and godly" just means you are living in harmony with God's plan for your life and that's where we find what we're looking for during these numbered days on earth. We find meaning and joy and peace and contentment and freedom from fear and guilt. This new Bible math called numbering your days is the key to fulfillment here on earth as well as a beautiful experience when you stand at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

Want to learn this new math? Start praying that God will teach you. Remember to say to yourself many times each day: "What difference will this make at the Judgment Seat of Christ?" That's how you number your days rightly.