Show me, O Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. Psalm 39:4
I don’t know how many of us would pray the prayer of David, quoted above. Most of us want to live as if death is for other people, not for us. We don’t want to contemplate our own death. We don’t want to think about how remarkably short our lives can be our how quickly our years are flying by. And yet, the brevity of life in this world is a constant theme in scripture.
David’s point was not a morbid fascination about his own death, but rather a desire to make every day count because life goes by much faster than we anticipate. Making every day count for eternity is the ultimate wisdom. The illusion that we will live forever creates a mindset that we can put off the most important things until life is more convenient.
We keep thinking we will make that phone call later; we will confront the problem as soon as we get it all figured out; we will really press into our relationship with God as soon as our life slows down; we will mend that relationship at a time when we have more emotional energy. We tend to think that we will get around to the most important things as soon as our career is established, our family is grown, or our relationships are where we want them to be. David’s point was that none of us are promised tomorrow on this planet, so we need to prioritize our lives and do the most important things today…regardless of how inconvenient or difficult it may be.
When we think about it, we probably all know that one of Satan’s great strategies against us is distraction. We just rarely think of it or rarely choose to think of it. There is always something that can take our eyes off the most important things in life. In his “Sermon on the Mount,” Jesus warned us not to be preoccupied with the material things of life – what we will eat, what we will wear, or where we shall live. He clearly stated that our heavenly Father knows that we need these things and, as a good father, will provide all that we need…if we keep our priorities straight. “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you” (Mt. 6:33).
And yet, most of us as believers, still fill our days with worry about those things. We work eighty-hour weeks to provide the “finer things” for our families, stay awake wondering about our 401K’s when the market tanks, buy more car and more house that we need in order to feel good about ourselves, constantly fight over finances with our spouse, chase all over the country every weekend for our kids to play soccer, baseball, or volleyball…so they can feel good about themselves, and then try to squeeze in a little time for Jesus when we can.
The devil’s distractions for believers are typically not sinful things. They are usually good things that we simply give more time and energy to than they deserve. Our problem is that we don’t live with an eternal view. If we are truthful, we might admit that on a day-to-day basis, we may give little thought to spiritual realities. We are prone to only consider spiritual things on Sunday mornings, while we think of this world as all there is, on the other six days of the week. By and far, we spend our time and resources on things that pertain only to this world and not the world to come. However, when we stand before Jesus he will not evaluate our lives based on the size of our house, our vacation destinations, or whether we had a swimming pool. We will not be judged on the basis of whether we drove a Ford or a Lexus. We won’t be praised on the basis of how many miles we logged taking our kids to club ball instead of church.
Again, these are not wrong in themselves but, if we are honest, we often give them a much greater priority than we give the kingdom of heaven. We would probably deny that, but it is true. Our aspirational value is to make Jesus the most important thing in life, but our actual values are revealed by what we do rather than what we should do. Simply add up the time, energy, and money you give to spiritual matters and those you give to material matters and you will get a more accurate perspective of what is truly important to you.
David’s prayer was that he would never lose sight of how fleeting this life can be, so that he would live each day with eternal priorities. That should be our prayer as well. Otherwise, we will die with a long list of good intentions that we never got around to. The illusion is that we will get serious about those more important things…later. Many of those things we put off are promptings from the Holy Spirit. The danger is that we can put those things off long enough that we he stops prompting us. Then, the most important things may go undone altogether.
In my moments of clarity, I want to number my days as David did…making each one count from heaven’s perspective. I don’t always do that, but I find questions are often a good way to help me evaluate my own actual priorities rather than my aspirational priorities and make needed adjustments. Maybe these will help you as well, if you are serious about eternal issues.
1. What is the Holy Spirit prompting me to do that I keep finding reasons to put off?
2. What am I giving my best time, energy, and resources to…other than God?
3. What activities or career issues do I often choose over church, spiritual family, or ministry?
4. If I am honest with myself, have I been more interested in the approval of men lately or the approval of God?
5. If people looked at what I do more than what I say, what would they believe is the primary source of my identity, my significance, and my satisfaction? Would they see it as Jesus Christ or something else?
6. What values am I modeling for my kids with the way I spend my time, money, or energy? Would they see me giving God the first fruits of my life or simply the leftovers?
7. What do I need to change or let go of in order to genuinely live with a view towards eternity rather than the pleasures and promises of this world? What am I lying to myself about?
May we, like David, learn to live each day with God’s priorities so that every day is lived without regret and stores up for us, and our children, riches in heaven.