“The length of our days is seventy years—or eighty, if we have the strength.” Psalm 90
Have you ever done the math on average life expectancy?
According to this passage from the Psalms, we each have between 25,550 and 29,200 days of life allotted to us, barring some disease or event which reduces them. After subtracting one third for sleep, we are left with 17,033 and 19,467 days, respectively. If we further break these figures down, we can calculate that we each have, on average, between 408,792 and 467,208 HOURS of conscious life beginning the moment we are born!
I have attended at death beds and witnessed deep regret, both from the dying and their loved ones, over the missed opportunities to share time, offer forgiveness and otherwise express love. It’s been said that no person who is dying regrets missing a business meeting or television program. Sadly, it is only when death seems imminent that our priorities become “rightly ordered.”
Tradition tells us that the Apostle John, after his release from Patmos and well advanced in years, would be carried to the churches he visited on a litter. Summoning all of his strength, he would tell those gathered in a hoarse whisper the most important thing he could share with them: “Love one another.”
I once saw an interview with someone who had done the math and who used the results as a motivator to not waste any time. What about you? Do these numbers tend to motivate you or to depress you? In Alcoholics Anonymous there is a saying: “Those who regret yesterday and dread tomorrow urinate on today!” With apologies for its bluntness, I think that this speaks a lot of truth.
Carpe Diem! Seize the Day! And if we do this in the power of the Holy Spirit, seeking to further His Kingdom and glorify the Name of our LORD Jesus Christ, we cannot even imagine what can be accomplished as our hours count down!
I pray that we all one day will hear those most blessed of greetings: “Well done, good and faithful servant! . . . Come and share your master’s happiness!” Matthew 25:21