6,000 days left to serve
"Teach us to number our days," Moses said. I decided to take that Bible verse literally.
Psalm 90:12 is a favorite verse of mine:
“So teach us to number our days, that we may get a heart of wisdom,” Moses said to God.
A few years ago I decided to take that verse seriously and to actually number my days. That is, count the days that I have left in this life to serve the Lord.
Of course, I don’t know when I’m going to die. God does, but he hasn’t shared that information with me.
So I decided to pick the age of 80. I’ve often said I’d be pretty happy if I made it to 80. Also, I have seen many people — not all people, but many — whose physical and mental abilities decline quickly after 80. I might not have the ability to serve past 80 even if I’m still kickin’.
Then I found an iPhone widget that provides a daily countdown from a day in the future. I put that widget on the home page of my iPhone, so I am constantly reminded exactly how many days I have left until Age 80.
It says, “Days Left to Serve Christ.”
And as of today, I have exactly 6,000 days left.
If you’re doing the math, I’m 63.5 years old — so I have about 16.5 years left to serve.
Of course, I might have thousands of days more than that. Or I might have only a handful of days left.
But that’s part of the point of numbering our days: To create a sense of urgency.
Because we don’t know how much time we have left, it’s important to act as if each day might be our last. That kind of attitude helps us prioritize our lives — putting a focus on God first, relationships second, and a bunch of other things after that. What really matters for eternity? What really matters today or this week or this month?
Another favorite verse is James 4:13-14:
“Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’ — yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”
I’ve been retired from paid work for a year. But we never retire from serving the Lord.
Even though I sometimes complain about America’s “entertainment culture,” I also know there isn’t anything necessarily wrong with relaxation. After all, God calls us to rest one day out of seven. And there’s nothing wrong with most forms of entertainment. I watch football and play Euchre and watch sitcoms.
But for the Christian, relaxation and entertainment should not dominate our lives.
Don’t Waste Your Life
John Piper is one of my favorite pastors. In 2003 he wrote a book titled “Don’t Waste Your Life.” The core message is that a life focused on God will have eternal significance, while a self-centered life leads to emptiness and regret.
I also love his “Seashell Sermon,” which he delivered at a conference in 2000. The sermon called for us to live a life that counts for God’s glory rather than wasting one’s life on trivial pursuits.
Click here to read the sermon or to watch it.
The sermon focuses on the story of a retired couple who spent their final years collecting seashells on the beach. Piper contrasts this seemingly harmless pastime with a call to live for something much greater — the advancement of God’s kingdom.
Piper said:
“The American Dream: come to the end of your life — your one and only life — and let the last great work before you give an account to your Creator be, “I collected shells. See my shells.” That is a tragedy. And people today are spending billions of dollars to persuade you to embrace that tragic dream. And I get 40 minutes to plead with you: don’t buy it.
“Don’t waste your life. It is so short and so precious.”
Instead, we Christians should spend much of what time we have left investing our time, energy and resources to spreading the Gospel, serving others, and pursuing eternal significance.
How many days do you have left?