Theme of the Week: Stewarding Time
Bible Verse: “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:12
Scripture Reading: Psalm 90:1-17
Because we buy the watch of our choice and attach it to our wrists, we subtly think, “I own time.” When we examine our personal calendars and tell others we can’t make a specific time slot they’re interested in, we believe, “I’m in charge of my time.” On our days off, we decide to read a book, play golf, or grill a steak, and we suppose, “Time is mine.”
Of course, I’m being preposterous. We don’t think any of the above, right? Or do we?
As Christians, we recognize many fundamental truths, such as God created everything and Jesus is Lord and Savior. But today I want to remind us of another critical truth, a tenet encompassing everything you do or ever will do. Everything. This truth is that your time isn’t your time; it’s God’s.
This precept is part of the greater Christian view that life isn’t about us but about God. Our lives are meant to be lived for God, offered to Him wholly in worship (Romans 12:1). Everything we have is meant to be surrendered to Him, willfully and joyfully, because we love Him and are grateful for the forgiveness found in Jesus Christ. We present ourselves, our possessions, and, yes, even our time, as valuable offerings to the Lord.
This week, I’d like for us to explore the teaching that God grants us time. It’s not ours, and it’s not ours to do whatever we want with it either. Rather, we are stewards of the time He has entrusted to us.
Psalm 90 teaches us that God is Lord over time, “from everlasting to everlasting you are God” (v. 2). Time is practically child’s play for Him, “For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by” (v. 4). God dispenses time to us―our lifetimes―as He pleases: “The length of our days is seventy years—or eighty, if we have the strength” (v. 10). Then we will die at His sovereign discretion, “You turn men back to dust” (v. 3).
Considering that time isn’t truly our time but rather a commodity entrusted to us, how then shall we live? Verse 12 is instructive on how to live: “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” We are to accept that our days are limited and therefore to live wisely with our rationed time. The last verse of Psalm 90, v. 17, is the psalmist’s appeal to God for His strength to live life, to “establish the work our hands,” repeated twice for emphasis.
The phrase, “only time will tell,” generally means that the full truth, or outcome, won’t be known until later. For us believers, perhaps the phrase could more aptly be revised to “only time and God will tell.” It’s when we appear before Christ at judgment (2 Corinthians 5:10) that we will truly know whether or not we were good stewards of the time He gave us on earth. In the meantime, we would do well to live our days rightly and wisely for God, as He establishes what we do all the days of our lives.
Prayer: Lord, thank You for the time I have on earth. May I understand that my days are numbered and try to live each one of them for You. May You establish in my life what is pleasing in Your sight.
Reflection: How can I tell if I’m living my days for the Lord? At judgment, will God be pleased with how I spent my time? Are there any things that I need to change immediately?
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