Peaches and Prunes - Pt 6

So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. Return, O LORD! How long? Have pity on your servants! Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil. Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children. Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands! (Psalm 90:12-17 ESV). Recently I received notice from some of my high school classmates about our reunion next year. It is hard to believe that fifty years have passed since that unique milestone. There were ninety-six in our graduating class, certainly not a large class by today’s standards. However, I must confess that just as I didn’t really “know” all of my class members then, I haven’t kept up very well today either. Some of the folks I have reconnected with through various means, but not all. I am looking forward to going. It will be fun reconnecting with old friends and classmates. I can only wonder how the days between have treated us. The psalmist mentions a similar thought in our reading today. He says we ought to “number our days.” This is merely a way of asking God to give us a vision of the whole of life as God sees it and then to live wisely in light of this knowledge. It is wisdom to live each day with the joy and comfort of knowing that your great desire is to please God. I’m sure that there will be many stories told at the reunion recalling some of the things we all did, or didn’t do. And there will be many other stories told of what we’ve done since then. Some will be stories of success and accomplishment; others may be stories of disappointment and tragedy. All of those stories will look back. I’m convinced that while looking back is instructive to a degree, looking forward serves us much better. There are still good works the Lord wants to produce in us regardless of our situation and circumstance. We should focus on God’s favor and grace. It far outweighs the days of sadness and regret we all experience. The Lord wants us to have a glad heart and a smile etched into our hearts. While others may waste their time pursuing fantasies of wealth and power, my goal is to spend my remaining years centered on living a life that pleases God and points others to him. We started this little series thinking about “peaches.” The one incredible thought for me is that no matter how you prepare a peach, if it is picked at the peak of its growth, it will bring delight. God won’t “pick” you until you are fully ripe. That is a promise. Number your days until then. Use them to be blessed and bless others in the name of our great God.