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

525,600 Precious Minutes Lost And Gained

Moses lived for one hundred and twenty years, or just over sixty-three million minutes. Methuselah lived nine hundred sixty-nine years, or just over … never mind. Each day is twenty-four hours, containing 1,440 minutes. God has given every person an incredible bank to draw from every day, starting with a zero balance. Whatever happens with 1,440 minutes is entirely left to the decision of man. He can do with it as he sees fit. Part of that time will be spent sleeping (average 6-7 hours). The rest of the day is a varied state of wakefulness.

No man knows how long he will live. The old must die, the young can die, and those in the middle will grow old. Time is measured by the creation ordained by God from the beginning. The lights in the sky are signs to mark the seasons, days, and years. With each passing day, those deposited minutes are lost forever. There is no way time can be reversed, and try as he might, man cannot change what happened yesterday. He can consider the lessons of yesterday and learn from them; but to go back in time cannot be done. When the minute is used, it disappears.

Moses lived a long and full life. When he died, his strength was not diminished, and his eyesight was clear. He writes in the psalm the wisdom of a man counting his days. What the prophet means is how important it is for everyone to consider the brevity of life, how short it is, and the importance of making suitable deposits in the bank of time. The new year began with great anticipation. Looking back on the previous twelve months, victories are realized, and defeats are admitted. A sense of hope seeks to create resolutions to make the coming year a time of victory. It will be twelve months before an answer is given.

Each year, we swap 525,600 precious moments for the next 525,600 minutes. Whatever we did with last year’s 525,600 minutes is now history. What we must look forward to is how to spend the next portion of time granted to us by the grace of God. Looking at the new year as a twelve-month bank of time is helpful but unfulfilling. Trying to plan out twelve months is a daunting task. One of the main reasons resolutions fail is because goals are made that are unrealistic and unattainable. Making long-term goals is essential to success, but goals are never accomplished without the awareness of the daily process of using minutes properly.

Instead of looking so closely at the 525,600 minutes, think about the next 1,440 minutes that make up a day. Yearly goals are accomplished one day at a time. Each day brings the opportunity to succeed and fail. God has only promised the day we have to work for Him. Worrying about tomorrow is a waste of time and unproductive. Work in the kingdom is a daily process of accomplishing the will of the Lord. After spending 1,440 hours a day seeking the will of God, we will find at the end of 525,600 minutes (one year) that we have been diligently working in the kingdom of God.

Moses asked the vital question of life. How do we number our days? It is not the number of hours we have lived. It becomes the awareness of the heart to know how short life is, and upon this short time, our eternal soul depends. We need to count the cost by learning how to number our days. Have we spent our time in service to God? Are we seeking the things that are above where Christ is? What will God say of our lives? Life is a one-way journey that can never be done again. Eternity is final with no change of station.

Numbering our days brings about wisdom. Looking at the past year to learn from yesterday’s mistakes will give us greater knowledge of how to live in the coming year. Each year should be a time of change. Every new day is the opportunity to dig deeper into the mind of God to know more perfectly His ways. God allows every man to start fresh with a new set of minutes to use wisely or waste. How we use that time is our choice. Learning to number the precious minutes we have will help us to draw closer to Him. It will change our life. Today is the day of salvation—all 1,440 minutes.