As I re-wipe counters that were morning clean, fold and put away the same shirts and underwear as last week, and re-sweep floors that were a few days ago Swiffer fresh, I should know…
Since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, everything here on planet earth is temporary.
Man is like a breath, his days are like a passing shadow. ~Psalm 144:4
That I like Moses should pray,
So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.
~Psalm 90:12
Feet will not always dangle from seats too high.
Imaginative play lasts only for a season.
Even tantrums, the “no” stage, and time-outs will eventually fade away.
Then the little girl and little boy stand up and take their place in God’s world.
Time on earth is temporary and fleeting. Eternity lasts forever.
Shouldn’t I work for the eternal? See my children and their fleeting days till adulthood as a gift and a heritage to be cultivated in tiny hearts? Seek to serve the poor and the persecuted?
Indeed.
I should know that each assignment the Lord gives me on this earth will last, at most, only a lifetime. Perhaps that is why I was drawn to the quote in a Joan Walsh Anglund book this week:
Where is the yesterday that worried us so?
I should know that today is a gift, yesterday a memory, and tomorrow is a hope yet unrealized. I want to be a good steward of today and the resources God entrusted to me within it.
There is pressure in this knowledge, but also freedom.
Dear Father,
Please teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Help us to live for the eternal, hold onto things loosely, and work for Your glory and fellow man’s good. Help us to seek the things that are above and remember that all victories or defeats in this life are but fleeting. Help us to delight in You and spread your fame through all the earth. Help us to be rich in good deeds and pursue a godly and peacful life. Let us do the work you give us with joy and sow a godly heritage in the children you have blessed us with.
In Jesus Name, Amen.
This. is. lovely.