Eternal Perspective

Teach us to number our days, 

that we may present to You a heart of wisdom.

Psalm 90:12

Maybe you've had someone you know die recently. Maybe you are overwhelmed with the political mess that is in our face 24/7.  Or maybe you are just restless over life in general.  

There are all sorts of reasons that we number our days, that we sit and think through what life has been and where life is going.  I think it's popular to talk with men about "legacy."  What are you leaving here on earth after you are gone?  How will history remember you, if it remembers you at all?  I am not sure that's a woman's perspective on life.  Instead of terms like "legacy," I think we think of memories.  How will our children and grandchildren remember us?  Will I be remembered for my weaknesses or my strengths?  Is it too late to make changes that they will remember?

Did you notice why God wants to number our days?  It's because we have an appointment in our future, all of us.  Now I am not saying that legacy and memories are bad to focus on, but I do think that shifting our perspective to see things the way God sees them is a healthy shift.  We get so swept up in the drama of this world that we forget that from an eternal perspective, what we leave behind pales in comparison to what lies ahead. 

God gives us time here on earth to develop a heart of wisdom.  Some of us have had longer than others based on several factors - how old we were when we surrendered our lives to the Lord and how long we get to live here on earth.  But length of time isn't as big a factor as value of time. 

You can do the church thing your whole life and not develop a heart of wisdom.  You remember our definition of wisdom - that it comes from experience, knowledge and good judgment.  We all have plenty of experience, but are we applying God's word to our every day lives?  This produces good judgment, when we act on what we know is good, true and right.  

And we do these things so that we have a heart of wisdom to present to the Lord in the future.  If not a heart of wisdom, what else can we offer?  A heart of anxiety?  A heart of pride? A heart of weakness or laziness?  The Lord gives us each new day to know Him more, to act on that knowledge and because a day is coming where we present to the Lord our hearts.

What can we possibly give the One who gave all for us?  The Lord desires a heart of wisdom.  So let's number our days, let's think through where we have been and where we are going, with our eyes set on seeing the Lord as He ushers us into eternity.