Number Your Days!

Are you a little tired of Octomom, Oprahland, Paris Hilton dribble that fills the airways with such silly nonsense that it leaves you glassy-eyed and stunned? War, Recession, and Global tension seem to be passed over for more meaty subjects like should Rihanna forgive Chris Brown for hitting her (I don’t know who they are either!)? In a week where a nine year old girl with leukemia married (i.e. ceremonially vowed eternal friendship) a seven year old boy with leukemia and Hollywood laments the death of greasy haired actor Mickey Rourke’s dog, Loki… well, loki, loki, where we’ve landed! Moses’ prayer (Psalm 90) seems to scream out at us –“Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom (v.12).”

Psalm 90 is this wonderful poetic reminder that life is too fleeting and fragile to be bogged down with nonsense and misdirected energies. God grant us the wisdom to buy up the opportunities that measure our lives and honor God with hearts filled with His wisdom and His direction. I recently was in a conversation with a young man in his senior year in college and he expressed how anxious he was for his life’s goal and dreams to begin to take shape. I reminded him that life moves by way too fast and that he should enjoy the time he now has in college. I didn’t say number your days but then again I did. Each day should be weighed not in light of future goals but embraced with the present joy and delight of the moment. O, I know some days are dog days and some days are rainy, curl-up until it’s over days but I think even those days build an important part of our lives. But only when we are searching for God’s voice in all that we do and say!

Now, I said all of that to say this, “Worship is best when it is a state of mind!” I can’t read minds nor am I the judge of anyone's heart but I do often see what appears to be worship catatonic syndrome (i.e. pew snoozing) where it appears that worship has been nudged out by boredom. It could very well be the preaching, or the singing, or the air conditioning… but my guess is that it’s a disconnect from the moment! Random thoughts, concerns and an endless list of distractions have robbed us of Psalm 90’s most important point. “May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us –yes, establish the work of our hands (v.17).” Never forgetting that He is with us in the pew keeps worship alive… it keeps life on track! -DAN