Moses went through tough times. He made mistakes. He spoke with God. He accumulated wisdom. He led others.

In Psalm 90:12 he offered this prayer: “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”

His meaning is this: Remind us that life is short so that we live our lives wisely instead of wastefully.

God is eternal (verse 2). In contrast, our days on earth are limited (verse 3). That’s why we need to make the most of them.

Entrepreneur and speaker Jim Rohn says, “There are two types of pain in this world, the short term pain of discipline and the long term pain of regret.”*

I think that’s helpful. By “short term pain” he’s referring to the difficulty of setting key priorities and living by them. That pain is better than the regret we will one day feel if we fritter away our time and put off doing what matters most.

The truth of the matter is this. We don’t know when we’ll die. For some, that day is a long time from now. Others could die tomorrow. We just don’t know.

So let’s live wisely instead of wastefully.

Thankfully, Jesus gives us the definition of wisdom. Its hearing his words and putting them into practice (see Matthew 7:24).

Let’s call on God, ask for his help, and take the next step.

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

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Notes:

–“Doing what’s right with the time you have left.” Sermon. June 18, 2023. Click here.

–*As quoted in: Kevin Myers and John C. Maxwell, Home Run: Learning God’s Game Plan for Life and Leadership (New York: Faith Words, 2014), 107.

–Bible quotes are from the NIV.