Make Life Count

Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. (NIV) Psalm 90:12

"Number our days"? What is that all about?! I searched the web and found out from different translations, that to number our days means to make the most out of what time God has given us!! It is about us using our time wisely, through the wisdom that only God can give us through His Word. Really, life is short and there will be a day when it comes to an end. We all have a a time/date when our lives will be over. It may come sooner than we expect. I remember when I was teaching, our pre school teacher had found a little bird on the ground, a small gray sparrow. It had not developed his feathers yet and it must have fallen from his nest. I named him “Charlie”. I took him home and hand fed him for days. I would put him to bed in a sweatshirt and he grew and thrived. He started getting his feathers and he started flapping his wings to gain strength, but he still was not able to fly. I remember so clearly one night, I put Charlie to bed after I fed him. I turned off the light and then had gone into the livingroom. Charlie was chirping and I would respond by talking to him from the other room. Then I heard a noise, like a “thud” coming from the bedroom where Charlie was. When I went in to look for him, his bed was empty. I called all around the house and went from room to room. “Where are you Charlie?”. Then I went to the bathroom where the light was on, and I gazed in horror, there was Charlie lying on the floor. I picked him up and his neck was broken and his body was lifeless. I realized that he had flown from his bed to find me and got confused and crashed into the mirror door of the bathroom!! I sat on the floor crying, and asking God, why? He was so young and he was just starting to fly. This was when the Lord told me that life is short. We never know when it is our time or the time of our friends or family, when it will end. The scripture I read today, reminded me of Charlie and how life is short. We never know when it may end, so we make the most of what we have. Charlie was loved and he had a good life, even though it was very short. We too can make the most out of our lives and do what we can to tell others about Christ. We don’t know how long people have on this life, but we need to see how many people that we can share the Gospel of Jesus Christ so that they too, can have eternal life. Life is precious and  I never want to take life for granted. I want to "number my days", make every day I have important for Jesus. I want to have meaning and that when my time comes, I will know that I did my best to share Jesus with others.

We Are His Sheep

3 Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture, 

   will praise you forever; 

from generation to generation 

   we will proclaim your praise. Psalm 79:13

 I have done studies and read books about sheep and it never ceases to amaze me when I get to scripture and God’s people are considered, “sheep”. I went to visit a friend’s farm where she had sheep. She wanted me to experience them and to be around them. It was amazing, and what happened was that she stood in the center of the field and called out, “come, come, come”. We waited and then all of a sudden, we saw these little heads peek out from the bushes and hidden areas and they all came running. It was so adorable! This, I remembered, was like scripture, when we hear the Shepherd’s voice and we come running. How they love to come when called. After the sheep came, they just hung out with us and they didn’t want to leave us. They were there with us and didn’t leave the spot. When we find Jesus, we too don’t want to leave His presence and we want to hang out and be around Him at all times. We can wander away, just as the sheep. My friend would notice one that had wandered too far away and she would call the sheep by name. Oh yes, she had given each one a name and they knew their names. When called, that one that wandered away, could come back. We, yes indeed, are God’s sheep. As I recall all that happened that day at the sheep farm, may I remember that I too am a sheep in the pasture. I am part of God’s flock and He knows me by name!

Question: Have you wandered away from His pasture and He is calling your name?