My second daughter was baptized in March of 2008. The pastor asked my wife and I to pick a scripture we wanted to read for the day. He said it didn’t have to relate to baptism and it could be more about Stella and our hopes for her life. It proved to be a bigger challenge than we expected. After much looking, thought and prayer, we were led to Psalm 90:12:
Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. ~ Psalm 90:12
It was an odd choice and I probably didn’t explain the reasoning to the congregation all that well. But I was also trying my best to not turn my daughter’s baptism into an impromptu mini-sermon. As I consider recent events and the road ahead, I want to share some of the reasons for having selected it:
Finding Hope in our Numbered Days
I know it is hard to think about, but our days on this earth are indeed numbered. Nobody really knows what tomorrow brings (or even if we will have tomorrow). However, we can and should look forward to them with optimism and hope. Along the way, today’s experiences – our joys, our sorrows and even the littlest of moments – quickly become lessons of yesterday as our lives progress.
Metaphorically, I like to picture them as pages of a book. We begin each day with a start fresh on a clean page. Just as our sins are wiped clean through Christ, every day is a new day.
And just as a book has chapters, so too do our lives. There are eras or great goodness and prosperity and there are times of massive struggle. Some of those chapters of our lives are shorter and some are longer – but they become part of our fabric as we live them.
They literally form who we are.
Grounded in Christ, no matter what we draft on our clean and fresh pages, we have the assurance we’re performing God’s will and developing books of great wisdom that are worth reading. Image credit: Nkzs via FreeImages.com.
In fact, every day, we write the book. Once it’s written, it’s there so we may go back and refer to it, remember it and reflect. You may have moments of your life that are underlined several times or written in bold print because the stay vivid in your mind. There may be times you want to erase or viciously scratch out with a red pen. But you cannot go back in time and change things.
Likewise, you can’t skip ahead to find out what’s coming.
The only moment you have any potential for controlling is now (psst. Click here to tweet that).
Finding Hope in Wisdom
And here is where a second part of this passage comes in — to have a “heart of wisdom” is to have Christ in your heart.
My daughters are going to carry out her lives. As a parent, I can hope to aim them in an upright direction. I can teach them right from wrong. I can be an example. But ultimately, they are going to write their own pages and chapters. They will live out their own lives.
The greatest hope I have for my children is not wealth, greatness or fame. It’s that latter part of the passage that I hope to see my children adopt into their lives. I pray that my wife and I – with the help of our family and church – can instill hearts of wisdom.
With that framework, no matter what they craft on their clean and fresh pages, I have the assurance that they are performing God’s will. As they write their books, I will gain the assurance they are developing books of great wisdom that are worth reading.
No agents, publishers, media representatives or distributors will be necessary.
If God sees fit, he’ll take care of any and all of that on His own.
What about you?
What about your greatest hopes for the remainder of 2015?
What about beyond that?What are your greatest hopes for your children? For yourself in life, career, passions, service to others, walk with Christ? I’d love to hear about it. Comment on this post or shoot me a message if you prefer I promise I will read it).
Note: This is a repost from late 2014. I thought it would be relevant for today, so I have edited and shared it again.