Cherish This Time
by Debbi Weeks
I remember when my children were young and people would tell me, “Oh, cherish this time, it goes by so quickly.” Truthfully, on most days those people should have been glad I didn’t deck them! Some of those days (heck, some of those minutes in some of those days) seemed like an eternity in and of themselves.
But now that I have almost launched my last kidlet, I find myself wondering, “Where did the time go?” From this vantage point I’d have to say that time did pass amazingly fast. I’ve been known to say that “the hours and days pass by so slowly, but those weeks, months and years just seem to fly by.” I definitely see that as truth looking back over this previous stage in life.
We got a new computer a few weeks ago and it sits in our bedroom. Matt somehow downloaded (or uploaded – I never know which direction I’m going on a computer! J) some videos we took of our kids while they were growing up. Each night before we go to bed he puts one on (we didn’t have a video camera when the kids were small, so it’s just a few scenes from when we borrowed one that we watch over and over and over again!) and we laugh and try to remember when the kids were so small – and we were smaller ourselves! We’re thankful for these memory-joggers because our memories aren’t what they used to be either.
So all of this has got me pondering Psalm 90:12 lately. Here it is in a few different translations:
“Teach us how short our lives really are so that we may be wise.” NCV
“Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” NIV
“So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.” NASB
Here’s what The Believer’s Bible Commentary has to say about Psalm 90:12,
“ . . .value every day of our lives and spend each one in obedience to Him, and in such a way that it will count for eternity.”
And, The Bible Knowledge Commentary says this, “Because life is so brief, and because it is spent under God’s wrath on sin, the psalmist, representing God’s people, implored God for wisdom in numbering their days, that is, realizing how few they are.”
I guess what this verse means to me is that time is God’s domain. It may seem long or it may seem to zoom by for me, but I am to look at the time I have as God’s gift to me to live out in obedience to Him – whether it’s those long days of small children or the days that go by so fast I can’t remember the morning in the afternoon, His desire for me is to realize that my time here is short and then live wisely. Join me in reflecting . . . and living?
Father God, thank you that You are the Sovereign Creator of all and that You know the number of each of our days.
I confess that I take this life for granted and that I do not live purposefully when I don’t recognize how short my life really is.
Thank you for helping me to recognize that this life is fleeting.
Help us to see it as short so that we make the most of each and every day – living in a way that will count for eternity.
In Christ’s Name, Amen.
4 comments:
So true, Deb! I love that line: we can't remember our morning by the afternoon - or is that just my age?? Nevertheless, I need to be wiser as I go through my day - thanks for the reminder!
Debbi, I'm reading this even as my kids are running around the house screaming, with one wanting me to come visit his "petting zoo" of stuffed animals and one singing very loudly in her crib as a sign that there will be no nap today. I needed this.
I was involved in a car accident just yesterday (NOT my fault!) with the littlest two in the car at the time. Thankfully, everyone walked away unhurt, but why does it take something like that to remind me that our moments are fleeting?
It's not the amount of time we're given, it's what we do with our time that matters. Thanks for spending some of your time writing this today!
Love this, Debbi. I find myself at "the other end of this spectrum of life" as well. Two and a half (is that possible) are gone now from my messy nest and I am reminded by seeing their young adult bodies as well as my image in the mirror, that time as I know it does indeed fly by. I realize daily that it is only my life that I have to offer Him, and that making the most of each moment count for eternity is the best I can bring. Thanks for the timely reminder.
Having had a fairly empty nest for over 10 years (a couple of "boomerangs!), my 64th birthday being today (Happy Birthday, Rebekah and Zeke!) and now the grandmother of 2, I, too, wonder "Where did the time go?" I often long for those days now with adult problems that make the toddler ones so much smaller (pun intended!!)Thanks for the reminder, Deb!
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