“So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12 (NKJV))

 

One of my favorite movies is Groundhog Day. In it, the main character gets stuck in a sort of time loop and lives the same day over and over. Essentially, time stands still.

He starts off confused. But then he progresses through different stages, using each “new” day to do whatever he wants without any consequences. Some days are filled with frivolity, while others are used to learn new things. After he understands the needed lesson, the clock finally moves on to the next day.

Wouldn’t that be great? Wouldn’t you love it if time stood still so you were able to have all the time you needed without worrying about the consequences?

But it doesn’t work like that. Ever. Time marches on, second by second at an unchanging, rhythmic pace. Time stops for no one.

If you waste a day binge-watching your favorite tv show on Netflix or some other streaming service, you won’t get those hours back. When you wake up the next day, it won’t be the same day again. Once a day has passed, it’s gone for good.

We all get one life. Each of our lives are allocated a certain number of days. In the Bible, the psalmist asks God to “teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12 (NKJV)). We don’t know exactly how much time we will have. But our days are numbered. This life won’t last forever.

When we realize how short our time is, we will use the time we have wisely. In the time that we have, God has fashioned days for us (Psalm 139:16). We can choose to follow God’s plan for our lives. Or we can squander the time He has given us on things that don’t really matter.

As it’s been said, only what is done for Christ will last. When a person comes to the end of her life, she doesn’t look back and say, “I wish I had watched more movies.” Rather, the regrets are that she didn’t spend more time with family, didn’t do something she knew God wanted her to do, or didn’t live her life in a godly way.

Don’t misunderstand me. When you die as a believer in Jesus, you won’t be judged for your sins because Jesus already paid the price for them (John 5:24). God has cast your sins as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12), and He has promised to remember them no more (Jeremiah 31:34). Praise God for that!

Yet, you will be judged for what you did with the time and the talents that God has given you. The Bible tells us,

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10).

At the end, our works will be tested by fire (1 Corinthians 3:13). The things you did for yourself will be burned up. But the things you did for the Lord with the right motive will be rewarded.

Jesus told us the parable of the talents. A talent was a unit of measurement used to weigh a coin. Likely, at the time Jesus taught this parable, a talent would have been equal to a year’s wage.

In the parable, a man who was going to travel to a “far country” gives his servants different amounts of talents according to each one’s ability (Matthew 25:14-15 (NKJV)). The man gave one servant five talents, another two talents, and another one talent (Matthew 25:15).

While their master was away, the servants with five and two talents each traded them and doubled the money (Matthew 25:16-17). “But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money” (Matthew 25:18 (NKJV)).

When their master returned, the servants who had been given five and two talents, told their master how they had doubled what he had given them (Matthew 25:19-20, 22). In response, their master told each one, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord” (Matthew 25:21, 23 (NKJV)).

But the servant who had hidden the one talent made excuses, accusing his master of being “a hard man” (Matthew 25:24-25 (NKJV)).  In response, his master took the talent from him and gave it to the servant who had ten talents (Matthew 25:28).

Just as the master in the parable gave talents to his servants to invest for him while he was away, Jesus has given each one of us different abilities to use for His glory while He is away preparing a place for us. When we refuse to use them for any reason or are lazy, we sin.

So let’s be time sensitive because time stops for no one. Let’s commit to walking by faith with God, making the most of the time He has given us. Let it be our desire to one day hear our heavenly Father tell us, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord.”