Number your days: (Ash Wednesday)

This past week I had the honour of officiating a celebration of life for a person who was supported by Christian Horizons. I have done a few funerals/celebrations of life for people over the past few years, but most times I had not known the person that well. The man who died last week I had a chance to get to know well. As I have been grieving over the past week I have noticed that I have been much more focused on what is important in life. I have been much more willing to stop reading a website in order to read my daughter a story. I have been willing to sit at the table while my son finishes his supper rather than jumping right into cleaning up or doing the next activity. I have taken more time to listen to people I am supporting at work rather than scurrying around serving them. I have spent less of my free time playing video games and watching TV and more time reading my Bible. Being confronted with death has changed my priorities. I suppose that it is fitting that I am thinking of these things on Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. (For more on lent click here: http://chdevotions.blogspot.com/search/label/Lent )


Psalm 90:1-6 (NIV)


1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.
2 Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
3 You turn men back to dust, saying, "Return to dust, O sons of men."
4 For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.
5 You sweep men away in the sleep of death; they are like the new grass of the morning--
6 though in the morning it springs up new, by evening it is dry and withered.

Psalm 90 is written by Moses. It was probably written while the people of Israel were wondering in the wilderness. The older generation was told they would not inherit the promise land so, in effect, they were wandering around waiting to die. It must have been a depressing time. Dr. Bruce Waltke has crunched the numbers, if approx 1.2 million adults left Egypt and died in the 40 years in the wilderness, an average of 83 people died a day. Moses was confronted with death. His prayer in the face of all this was:

Psalm 90:12 (NIV)


12 Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

When we are confronted with death we number our days aright. We look at each one as a gift. Since the death last week I have not been watching the clock at work and wishing away my shift or counting down to when my kids will be in bed. I enjoy the time reminding myself that someday I will look back and be willing to give anything for a few more minutes with people.

Death is not the end of the story. I am glad that the man who died last week was a man of faith and I am sure I will see him again someday. This life however, is short. I need to remember that in order to make the most of it. For some thinking about death is paralyzing. That is not what I am encouraging. Moses concludes his Psalm with:

Psalm 90:17 (NIV)


17 May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us-- yes, establish the work of our hands.

When faced with death, Moses asked the Lord to use him. During the wilderness time is probably when Moses wrote the Pentateuch. We know he poured his energy into Joshua during this time. Moses was focused on things that mattered.

A week after the death I am already noticing that I am slipping back into bad habits. I am losing sight of the important things. I am hoping that Lent will give me a chance to focus on what matters. Christ surely lived his life in light of His approaching death.

God teach me to count my days aright.

Psalm 90:10 (NIV)


10 The length of our days is seventy years-- or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.

According to that I have somewhere between 13000 and 17000 days left. What is your number? (Dr. Waltke wrote the countdown to his 70th birthday in his journal everyday.) I want to make the most of them.

Mark Wallace