.
Because of the brevity of
life, we are “living on borrowed time.” The time when we will “fly away” to be
in the presence of the Lord could be any time. Remembering how fragile our life
on earth is a good reminder to appreciate the years and months and even the
days we still have to complete the purposes of God for our life. We need to
value every moment and live wisely and with purpose. Time is short, so we need
to live with a sense of urgency, seeking God’s wisdom for each day’s tasks. No
matter how many years you have left on this earth, they are a brief moment
compared to eternity.
Barbara Robbins
During the month of July, I have been reading
through the books of Psalms and Proverbs, and this morning’s reading included
Psalm 90.
I’ve been using the New Living Translation to
get a fresh view of these Scriptures that I’ve read hundreds of times in the
around fifty years that I’ve been a Christian.
Psalm 90 is the oldest of the Psalms.
It was written by Moses, in the form of a
prayer, and entitled From Everlasting to Everlasting.
The first verses focus on the eternal nature
of our God.
“Lord,
you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were
brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting
to everlasting you are God.” - Psalm 90:1-2 ESV
Moses starts with a reminder that no matter
what circumstances we face, we have a safe dwelling place in the Lord.
The New Living Translation calls it a home.
In Him we have shelter and protection from
danger or distress.
The Creator of the earth and heavens calls us
to come to Him and be secure.
The next verses are Moses prayer of lament
over the brevity of life and the judgment of sins.
This section ends with a reminder that our
“secret sins” are not a secret to God.
“You
spread out our sins before you— our secret sins — and you see them all. We live
our lives beneath your wrath, ending our years with a groan.” - Psalm
90:8-9 NLT
Then we come to the two verses that jumped out
at me as I was reading them this morning.
“Seventy
years are given to us! Some even live to eighty. But even the best years are
filled with pain and trouble; soon they disappear, and we fly away… Teach us to
realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom.” - Psalm 90:10,
12 NLT
” Seventy years are given to us!”
These are the words that seemed to jump off
the page as I was reading this morning.
And
before I looked forward, the words “teach us to number our days” came to
mind.
I was surprised to see that this truth was
only two verses ahead.
Because of the brevity of life, and the fact
that I turned seventy-two in February, the thought came that I am “living on
borrowed time.”
The time when I will “fly away” to be
in the presence of the Lord could be any time.
Remembering how fragile our life on earth is a
good reminder to appreciate the years and months and even the days I still have
to complete the purposes of God for my life.
I need to value every moment and live wisely
and with purpose.
Time is short, so I need to live with a sense
of urgency, seeking God’s wisdom for each day’s tasks.
At age seventy-two, I’m well aware of the
brevity of life.
As I read these verses, 2 Corinthians 4:16
came to mind.
It begins with a reminder not to lose heart
when our outer self, our physical bodies, begin wasting away.
In my own life, over the last year I’ve seen
the cartilage in my knees waste away so that my knees are now basically bone on
bone.
How do we not lose heart in this situation?
The key is remembering this life is not all there is.
Living with chronic illnesses such as
arthritis, lupus, fibromyalgia, and an endless list of other infirmities, as
many of you who read my blog do, is living with watching your bodies slowly
waste away.
But the good news is that’s not where the
Apostle Paul ended this verse.
He added the encouragement that our inner self
is being renewed day by day.
If you are a Christian, one who has been
forgiven and who has accepted Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, your inner self
is renewed as you spend time in God’s life-giving presence.
Colossians
3:10 (ESV) says we “have put on the new self, which is being
renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.”
Through prayer and reading the Bible, God’s
written Word, your inner self, the part of you that was made for eternity, is
being renewed daily by the Holy Spirit.
No matter how many years you have left on this
earth, they are a brief moment compared to eternity.
Don’t despair when you see your outer self
wasting away.
Instead, turn your focus on renewing your inner self and on doing the things that will count for eternity.
Hi, my name is Barbara Robbins. My husband Mitch and I have
been married since 1973. Mitch is a video producer and editor, and I help with
the bookkeeping for our business which specializes in video projects for
Christian TV, churches, and other Christian ministries. We have had three
children. Amy, our adult daughter, is a free lance artist and blogger, David,
our special-needs son, recently got to meet our first-born, Teresa, in heaven.
In addition to blogging at hopeandlight.blog, I am a contributing
writer for Godlivingwithchronicillness.com and a part of the leadership team
for God-Living Girls with Chronic Illness, a Christ-centered support and
encouragement Facebook group for ladies of all ages with chronic illness.
https://hopeandlight.blog/category/devotions/
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