Psalm 90:12: “So teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart.”
Learning to count our days to make our days count has everything to do with the brevity of life. Our souls live forever while our bodies have an expiration date. As our first hours on earth turn into days, days into weeks, weeks into months and months into years, we must remember that our lifetime on earth is finite; and we use it to the best of our abilities when we are generous with our time and resources.
We do not have to be rich to be generous. Everybody has something to give. The blessings of the giver always outweigh the blessings of the receiver. It may be counter-intuitive to think so, but then, God’s Word is mostly counter-intuitive. Take His famous love-commandment for instance [Mark 12:30-31]:
“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
Attempting to follow the love-commandment without knowing the Lord is as difficult as trying to sing in three-part harmony while being tone-deaf. God is the source of all love. He has loved us long before we even recognized Him.
Our human love lacks the depth that is characteristic of the love of God. Case in point, the love of a narcissist knows only one dimension, while people who care for themselves and others love in two dimensions. However, those who have faith in the Lord learn to love in three dimensions. Grounded in self-love, stretching horizontally in their love for people and reaching out vertically in their love for God, they live meaningful lives.
Birds come with wings, and we can see their flocks traversing the skies. We too come with wings. Hidden beneath our skin, our souls soar when we love. Numerically speaking, love must be the biggest number in God’s kingdom. And as we grow closer to His heart we begin to understand what counts.
