This weekend, I celebrated my 59^th birthday.  The beginning of my last year in the 50s. In case you’re wondering (and even if you aren’t), that is 34,456,000,000 miles around the Sun.  Yes over 34 billion – with a B.  That’s a lot of mileage. No wonder I am so tired all the time!  But like my dad always said, “Birthdays are good for you, the more you have the longer you live.”

Birthday Contemplations

Speaking of my dad, he went home to be with the Lord 2 months after his 73^rd birthday. Relatively young.  On my birthday last year, I realized that if I died at the same age, I had 15 years left.  Now one more year has expired, and only 14 remain – should I live to the same age as he. I am not guaranteed as many as he lived. Conversely, by God’s grace I could have a few more than he did.  Only God knows.  But last year’s birthday started me thinking about something.  And this year’s birthday has pushed the thinking into mach-drive.

I share my thoughts with you in hopes that God will use it to spur self-evaluation in your life as well.

Numbering Days

So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.

Psalm 90:12

Psalm 90:12 encourages us to pray that God would help us to “number” our days.  This psalm was written, ironically, by Moses who lived only 120 years.  This Old Testament concept of numbering days goes beyond merely counting how many of them there are. In case you are wondering, as of December 9, 2023, I had lived 21,549 days.  That includes Leap Days.  

In the Old Testament, numbering was counting and dividing into organized parts.  The Old Testament book of Numbers is the record of Moses counting and organizing God’s people into groups. Moses encourages us to ask God to help us evaluate and organize our days.  The goal of such consideration is to help us live our remaining days in a wise manner.

Numbering Questions

Praying and meditating over three questions can help us in this task.  

1.  When have I experienced the work of God throughout my life?  Think back.  Make at least a mental record of the noticeable movement of God through your past.  Even better, record those movements.  Look back on God’s track record in your life.  As you celebrate His faithfulness in your past, you can rest assured of His faithfulness today. As you realize His faithfulness in today, you can trust His faithfulness in whatever number of days lie ahead.  

2.  Where Am I spiritually today?  An honest self-evaluation can be a tremendous benefit to our spiritual growth.  We can’t get to where we need to be if we are not honest about where we are! Southern Seminary professor Dr. Donald Whitney has developed a helpful list of self-evaluation questions.  I encourage you to click here to download the questions.  Take several days to consider them. Ask God to give you honest insight into yourself. 

3.  What do I need to do – beginning today – to live the rest of my life according to God’s agenda?  In other words, how can I number, or organize, my days so that God gets the glory from my life?  This causes us to refocus our priorities.  When I began to evaluate my life, I was startled at how much weight I assign to non-eternal issues.

British missionary C.T. Studd famously wrote a poem with each stanza ending with these two lines. “Only one life, ’twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.”  May God help us all to order our days so as to give attention to what brings HIM most glory.

My Birthday Numbering

Beginning last year, and now increasing with this birthday, God is graciously refocusing my priorities to align with His.  It is an ongoing journey that will need constant attention and maintenance.  But when I get to the end of my life, I want to know that I spent this last sprint glorifying Him.

My prayer is that you will join me in this wonderful, refocusing discipline. May all of us live to glorify God.

Later this week, I will share another article with the specific verses God is using to refocus my priorities.  I hope you will come back for that.