Spending Time

Attributed to Moses, Psalm 90 may be one of the oldest parts in the Bible. It was designed to help us worship God through a deep reflection on time and its consequences.

The psalmist ponders the fact that God is eternal and juxtaposes it against the frailty and brevity of human life. These two realities create a tension in us; we want our frail lives to count for eternity. This psalm also reminds us that we're going to die sooner than we'd like. We can't make our lives count until we face this reality. The solution, it says, is to number our days.

When we number our days, we offer them to God—one-by-one—and seek his direction and blessing. With God's blessing, our days begin to add up to eternal significance.

Our culture elevates things that won't last: money, power, fame, comfort. By numbering our days we realize how few we actually have, spend them wisely, and live them out for God's eternal purposes.

You have to be a wise steward of your time to live a life that counts. Think about how to spend your time wisely. Offer your days to God and ask him to bless them with eternal significance.

You have only one life to live; don't waste it.

[Q] How should knowing that God is eternal affect the way you look at your life?

[Q] What does it mean to ask God to establish the work of your hands, and what would it look like for his favor to rest upon you (Psalm 90:17, NIV)?

Make a Change: Keep a record of your activities for a week. Write down every hour of the day and how you use it. At the end of the week, look at the activities that need to change and ask God how he wants you to spend your time.

For an expanded version of this study, download "Stewardship: Living a Life That Counts." To download more studies like this, go to ChristianBibleStudies.com.

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