“So teach us to number our days, that we may present a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12)

By the time Moses wrote this Psalm, he was growing old. As he reflected on his life, he realized that life passes really quickly. When we’re young, life seems to crawl, but in old age, it flies by. To an eternal God, however, time is meaningless. A thousand years, Moses knew, is like a day to God.

The rapid pace and brevity of life though isn’t a cause for despair but for wisdom. Moses asked God for insight: ” Teach us to number our days.” He didn’t mean to count them one after another, but to value each one individually so we don’t waste a single one.

With a sense of urgency, some people feel compelled to fill up each moment of each day with as much activity as possible, but this isn’t the model of life Jesus gave us. He lived each moment with the certainty that His life counted, and He made choices to speak, work, rest and engage others because His heart was focused on the Father’s will, not some arbitrary standard of achievement.

Life is short, but it’s full of meaning, love, and hope if we “number”our days and live them for Jesus Christ instead of wasting them on empty pursuits. With Him in the center of our lives, we can rest, laugh, work hard, serve, and engage people in conversations that matter. That’s what Jesus did. We can too.