There are 365 days in our calendar year. Many of these days pass by without much fanfare. We might call them ordinary days. They are the days we go to work or school, pay the bills, grocery shop, change the oil in the car, and watch our favorite TV show. Then there are those days that we highlight on our calendars: The day we leave for vacation, our coming wedding day, Christmas, Birthdays, and the like. For many of these highlighted days, we even count the days till they arrive. How many more days before the “big” days arrive? Sometimes we can hardly wait to get to that special day for whatever reason makes it special to us.
In Psalm 90, the writer ponders the human frailty of life in light of the eternal nature of God. In doing so the psalmist confesses, “You sweep them away; they are like a dream,
like grass that is renewed in the morning; in the morning it flourishes and is renewed in the evening it fades and withers. The days of our life are seventy years, or perhaps eighty, if we are strong; even then their span is only toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.” (Psalm 91: 5-6, 10). The psalmist concludes that our lives pass by quickly and should not be taken for granted. Hence, in verse 10 we read, “so teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart.”
The psalmist’s advice for living: “count your days and make them count.” In light of our faith, every day should be seen as special and worthy of our attention. Each day we are allowed to live our lives in such a way that we glorify God. Each day we can choose how to live our lives. Our writer suggests that when we count our days, then we gain a wise heart. That is, when we see each day as a gift of God, then we will live each day in gratitude and thanksgiving by making wise choices with the time that we have been given. A wise heart will understand that life is a gift to be lived to its fullest and shared in love with others. A wise heart will count its blessings and then share those blessings with others.
We only get one shot at this thing called life. There are no do-overs and we cannot turn the clock back and relive the days that have already passed. We can only live in the moment that we are in. Not even tomorrow is promised to us. Hence, we need to make each day count by loving God and by loving others. For when all is said and done with the days of our lives, these are the only things that matter. So, let us count our days and let us make our days count.
Conversations from the Couch 