Birthdays when we are young are mostly full of excitement. Suspense and wonder at how the day will be and how it will feel to be a year older fill the lead up to most children`s birthdays with anticipation.Some of us manage to maintain the joy of birthdays as we get older. Others dread facing one, for one reason or another. Somehow totalling up the years can make us nervous. It can also make us satisfied, when we look back in the right way and look ahead with the right attitude.
I love the way that God looks at our lives. He sees us as individuals. He knows every hair we have on our head. And He counts our days. Every day we live and walk out is written in His book.
That`s why I find Psalm 90 so cool. Verse 12 says: "Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." One of the German translation puts it a little less poetically (thanks Luther) and talks about remembering that we must all die one day.
Why talk about birthdays and death in one article? Well, a birthday is a celebration of what has been. It is also an anticipation of the great days that are ahead. As Christians we don`t rely on luck or chance to run our days and fill up our years. We know that God is in charge and that we are co-workers with Christ. Together we manage our time.
Whatever the number of days or years we live, we want to live by God`s principles, close to Him and growing a heart of wisdom for ourselves, our lives and the lives of those around us.
I pray that my days and your days would be lived as days of wisdom. Wisdom to recognise the times and seasons. When to rest and when to play. When to reach out and when to be still. Wisdom that helps us to number our days.
