The psalmist once petitioned God, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12). By this simple prayer, he recognized our mortality − that our life in this world is short, and that at a predetermined time, it will come to an end.
Job said that our days on earth are but a shadow (Job 8:9). It was probably with this same realization that Psalm 39:4-6 was written, “Lord, let me know my end, and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is. You have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing in your sight. Surely everyone stands as a mere breath. Surely everyone goes about like a shadow” (Psalm 39:4-6). Likewise, in Psalm 103:15-16, we read, “As for mortals, their days are like grass; they flourish like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more”; and in James 4:14, we are told, “… you have no idea what your life will be like tomorrow. You are a puff of smoke that appears briefly and then disappears.”
To be clear, death was not in the original plan of God. In creating Adam and Eve, God’s intention was for them to live forever in a perfect state. However, when our first parents disobeyed God’s command not to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, sin entered the world, and with it, corruption and death. Thus, God decreed, “You are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19b). Henceforth, it is appointed that all human beings die once, and after this, the judgment (Hebrews 9:27).
It is in the light of this reality that God is reminding us to number our days. How long shall we live? Nobody knows; only God can tell. Some live long, others live short, and still others, not too long nor too short. An estimate of the normal life span is given in the Bible, “The days of our life are seventy years, or perhaps eighty, if we are strong … “ (Psalm 90:10). Granted that we live for 80 years, that translates to 29,200 days, or 700,800 hours − mere dots compared to a thousand, a million, or a billion years, or in fact, with the infinite eternity in which our souls are destined to live.
One thing is certain: we will meet the Lord in the near or distant future, whether at death or on his second coming, both of which dates remain hidden to us. On the latter, Jesus said, “You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour” (Luke 12:40).
Readiness is thus very important. We have to be sure where we shall be spending eternity. Are we going to heaven or hell? Will we be saved or will we perish? Our decision matters. For this, we can hold on to the all-time favorite verse in the Bible, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life” (John 3:16). To be saved, we must believe that Jesus died for our sins. We must make a genuine repentance for our offenses, and take a firm resolve to live in obedience to God.
Jesus said, “Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks” (Luke 12:35-36). In relation to this, Paul wrote, “Let us not fall asleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober” (1 Thessalonians 5:6); and also, “So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9).
And in closing, let us ponder on these words that came from a very wise man, King Solomon, “Remember your creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years draw near when you will say, ‘I have no pleasure in them’; before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return with the rain; in the day when the guards of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the women who grind cease working because they are few, and those who look through the windows see dimly; when the doors on the street are shut, and the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all the daughters of song are brought low; when one is afraid of heights, and terrors are in the road; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along, and the caper bud falls; because all must go to their eternal home, and the mourners will go about the streets; before the silver cord is snapped, and the golden bowl is broken, and the pitcher is broken at the fountain, and the wheel broken at the cistern, and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the breath returns to God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:1-7).
The time to be saved is now. The time to repent and change our ways is now. If today we hear his voice, let us not harden our hearts (Psalm 95).