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So the title of the sermon this morning is number your days, number your days. And of course I get that there from Psalms chapter 9 verse 10 it says the days of our years are three score and 10 years and if by reason of strength they be four score years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow for it is soon cut off and we fly away who knoweth the power of thine anger even according to thy fear so is thy wrath so teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Of course this being kind of the end of the year it's always a good time of year to remind us ourselves of the fact that we only have so much time on this earth that there's only so much time for us to accomplish the things that we want to accomplish in this life and around the new year everyone's kind of thinking about that they're thinking about they're reflecting on the year that's just passed they're thinking about the year to come that things are going to change you know hopefully that's something people are thinking about you know I think that's a great thing to do you know making resolutions making changes always trying to improve and be better in whatever area it is and of course that's something you we should try to do year-round you know this but of course this is again the time of year where everybody's minds you know seem to kind of just naturally drift in that direction so it's always a good time to be reminded that you know why should we make resolutions why should we sit down and think about the year to come why should we set goals why should we set goals for two five ten or maybe even over a lifetime is because of the fact that the Bible does tell us to number our days and what he's saying really there by saying number your days is to count our days you know put a number on them and figure out the fact that you only have so many of them before this life is over you know our resolutions that we make this year should be motivated by the fact that our time is limited you know we only have so much time on this earth and the Bible talks a lot about this you know and that the fact that we should do something with that time that we have here he said there in Psalm chapter 90 that there are our years are three score years and ten so a score of course is 20 so 20 times 360 plus 10 is 70 and if by reason of strength they be four score years you know so you might be looking to 70 to 80 years of life and that's kind of a general lifespan that's out there that's not a cap on it on life you know people do live beyond that but if you make it to 70 or 80 years you know you've typically speaking you've lived a long full life you know you've had a long life but again that's a very short amount of time in in in light of eternity so we should always keep that in mind when we're setting our goals making a resolutions that we have only a certain number of days you know the the the the practice of creating resolutions isn't explicitly taught I don't believe in Scripture but the principle of improving as a as a person as a Christian that is taught in Scripture and I'm gonna read to you just some verses you can follow along in second Peter chapter 1 it says about beside this giving all diligence add to your faith virtue and a virtue knowledge and he goes on and add this and add this and add this so there is this principle in Scripture that we should be adding to our faith we should be improving as Christians and not going backwards the Bible says in 1st Corinthians chapter 15 therefore my beloved brethren be steadfast unmovable always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain you know we should never just reach this plateau in our Christian life you say I've done this much work for the Lord and that's it there's a never put a cap on that he's saying look be steadfast be unmovable you know be a bulwark you know be stalwart in your faith don't be somebody that's gonna be tossed around but even more than that be always abounding in the work of the Lord always trying to do more for the Lord and I know that there's seasons in life sometimes we get busy with other things but our you know the over the overarching theme of our life should be that we are abounding in the work of the Lord the Bible says in Philippians chapter 1 and this I pray that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment they may approve the things that are excellent they may be sincere and without offense to the day of Christ being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God so there again Paul is exhorting them that their love would abound yet more and more this idea of improving expanding abounding increasing in Christ not going backwards you know the the the principle of rest or the the explicit practice of resolutions is not found in Scripture but the principle of improving as a child of God is the Bible says in Proverbs chapter 4 the path of the justice as the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day you know our light that shines for Christ should get brighter and brighter as we go along in this life as you get brighter and brighter as the world grows darker it should get brighter and brighter not dimmer you know and if we if we look back over this last year and we say to ourselves you know what my works have decreased my faithfulness has has decreased my Bible reading has decreased whatever it is and whatever area as a Christian if you can say I'm actually doing less I did less this year than I did the year before you know what your lights not shining more and to the perfect day you're not abounding and all in all and all these works you're not adding to your faith you need to work on that this year you know and do it so you get to the you know you get to 20 22 and say I did more in 2021 than I did in 2020 I was abounding in the work of the Lord Bible says in first lesson that's the only ins chapter 4 furthermore then we beseech you brethren and exhort you by the Lord Jesus Christ that as you have received of us how you ought to walk and to please God so you would abound more and more just over and over again to the Thessalonians to the in the in the book of Peter and in the Philippines you know the Peter and the Paul the Apostle are telling us to abound more and more to do more so again the red the the idea of setting resolutions you know on New Year's you know every new year it might not be found in Scripture but this principle of improving ourselves as Christians is taught throughout the New Testament and old and I titled this sermon number your days because of what we read there in Psalms chapter 90 where he says teach us to number our days you know I'm saying you know help us God to know that we only have so much time and really we should number our days because of the fact that God already has you know something I was thinking about as I was writing the sermon just this thought that God already knows the day you're gonna die God already knows when you're gonna pass away when your life's work is gonna be over and you come home to glory God knows when that day is now none of us knows when that day is you know it's a good thing we don't we might that'd be probably be a sad depressing fact you know we'd start that that clock we'd start walking you know it's scratching out the days oh only so many more days until I'm a goner right but God does know that God knows that we only have so many days on this earth and Moses here is praying and saying God teach us to number our days help us to understand that we only have so many so to what end so that so that we can apply our hearts unto wisdom so that we can live our lives with wisdom and knowledge and understanding you know number your days because of the fact that God already has look at verse 9 he says there in Psalms chapter 9 he keeps something there he says for all our days are passed away in thy wrath we spend our years as a tale that is told you know that's a common phrase that that you hear a tale that is told in our and but that's actually comes from the Bible as many other sayings come from Scripture this is one of them and what he's saying here is that you know God already knows the beginning from the end nothing's taking God by surprise you know when you're when your days are numbered when you're your flat final day on earth comes up and you die and you go home it's not gonna take God by surprise you know he's not gonna have to shuffle around his his schedule that day and try to fit you in you know he's gonna say well you showed up right when I knew you were going to it's not gonna take him by surprise we spend our days as a tale that is told God already knows the beginning from the end and God is you know wants us to understand that and what our job on this earth is to number our days so that we can spend them wisely you know God has already put a cap on the amount of time man is going to live you know even if you've managed to you know eke out that 80 years you know I don't think you're gonna live much most people aren't gonna live beyond that they might get into the 90s they might even break those three digits but I don't know that I've ever heard of anybody living beyond 120 years now there might be some fluke out there but you know God has already numbered our days in fact in Genesis he that's he put a cap on man's life he said my spirit shall not always strive with man for that he also was flesh yet his day shall be in 120 years and that was right before he flooded the earth and destroyed man for the wickedness of his imaginations and all the violence that was in the earth but prior to that you remember you you'll read through Genesis I mean people were living hundreds and hundreds nigh on to a thousand years I mean Methuselah was nine hundred and sixty nine years old when he died and what was but the problem with that was is that those people had a long lifespan but did they apply their hearts unto wisdom we know for a fact that many of them all of them in fact did not the Bible says that that every thought of their heart was just wicked imagine they just had wicked imaginations the point where God had to destroy them so you know God has put a cap on our lives already God has numbered our days and so should we I mean think about what you could do with a 900 year life think of all the children you could have I mean you can have a lot of kids you could do a lot there's I mean you could you could go through your bucket list like three times or whatever you know I mean you you have to work at trying to experience everything there is to experience and do everything there is to do you could accomplish in a lot in 900 years and sometimes I read about those lifespans I say well why not why not us why can't we live that long because there's something in the nature of man where he takes that for granted where he just uses that time and just wastes it doing nothing pursuing vanity not living his life wisely you know and you know although our days have been numbered our lifespans have been shortened that attitude still prevails among men that attitude is still in us that nature is still there to still even take the even shorter time that we have if we're lucky you know by reason of strength we might get to 80 you know we might even get to 100 but most will get to 120 but how are you gonna spend those days to what end are you gonna spend those days just you know fulfilling the lusts of the flesh passing the time idly or you're gonna use those are you gonna use those days to abound in the work of the Lord more and more are you gonna use those days to shine as a light under the perfect day you know God shortened man's days to prevent the earth from being filled with violence and I think part of the reason you might have done that is not only to you know spare the earth and spare you know the suffering that was taking place but also because of the fact that you know if you have a shorter life you would think that that would make you focus on the things that are more important you know if I were to come to you this morning and say hey you've got 30 days to live you know you go to the doctor at starry stage for cancer you've got 90 days at best you know you would probably start thinking real quickly about how what you would want to do with those last remaining days you would think about what you know me I would probably go what am I gonna eat between now and then you know what how many good delicious meals you know can I squeak in before I die right or you'd want to think about relatives you'd want to visit things you'd want to say you get your affairs in order as it were right but think about this the fact that we already have such a short lifespan we don't we don't get that because that's just it's normal to us 70 years 80 years that's what you can expect do you know how short a time that is that's so short it's it's as nothing it's like a it's it's a drop in the bucket it's a drop in the ocean is what it is in terms of eternity it's nothing it goes by so fast you know I just hit the ripe old age of 40 right a very young man right but when you hit that halfway mark you start to think about man it's already half my life half of 80 years is already gone you know what am I gonna do the next 40 that kind of puts into perspective you know on the younger we are the long more we think we seem to think we have ahead of us and we kind of take it for granted you know but if we would just understand this morning that our life as it is even if you lived a long life of 80 years is so short and fleeting and it goes by like that if you would just understand that then we would we would probably focus more on the things that matter most not just getting caught up in all the sin and pleasures of this life but actually focusing on the things that matter serving God raising a godly family so on and so forth you know when you have a deadline that motivates you you know when they when I was in school they would you know you have homework and the homework the essay was due on this day you know your homework was due the next day there's going to be a test of this day when you have some kind of a deadline when you're at work and they say hey you have to have this project completed by this date you know the paperwork has to be on my desk by tomorrow morning you know people when they get under the pressure like that that's when they're gonna stay up and burn the midnight oil that's we're gonna burn the candle at both ends to try and make that deadline but I'm here to tell you this morning that you have a deadline in life called death that you have at most 80 years and maybe you can eke out a few more I don't know how great they're gonna be at that towards the end but here's the thing whatever you're gonna accomplish you know you got only got so much time to do it there's a deadline you know emphasis on dead line right well then once it comes that's it life's over everything you're gonna accomplish for God is gonna be done in that short span of time and we just seem to think that oh it's good you know 40 more years that's gonna go on and on and on and on oh 20 30 50 more years whatever it is wherever you're at in life look it's gonna go by like that and then that that's gonna be it then you get the glory and you're gonna give an account and you can say well you know I know I didn't do so do so good on that that round Lord but send me back down there and I'll do better this time now that I understand now that it's really sunk it in with me no the Bible says that his point on a man wants to die and after this the judgment you know that goes for a believer and and non-believer you know believers have a judgment too you know we're all works will be tried by fire so what I'm saying this morning is you know go ahead and set some resolutions for the new year set some resolutions for the new year and hopefully there's spiritual resolutions you know not just lose weight right exercise more eat right those are great resolutions you know I know I know at least one guy in the room that probably could stand that right me who do you think I was talking about come on now right and that is a resolution of mine you know ask my wife I tell her about it all the time you know over a bowl of Ben and Jerry's you know that this is it no this is really it honey but you know hopefully our resolutions are those are great you know we should take care of ourselves so on and so forth you know maybe a lot of people this time here they think about their finances you know I'm gonna get out of debt this year or I'm gonna save X amount of dollars or whatever you know they think about their finances but how many people today are thinking about well how much time am I gonna spend soul winning I'm gonna try and get X amount of souls saved this year I'm gonna read my Bible for this many hours every week or this much time every day or I'm gonna read my Bible through cover to cover this many times or just one time as I preached you know last Sunday you know go ahead and set some resolutions this year make sure there but make sure there's some spiritual ones in there you know and I think it's a good thing to do not because you know the Bible commands thou shalt set resolutions but because of the fact the Bible teaches us that we should always be improving we should always be abounding in the work of the Lord and not only that but that God has our days numbered than anything you're gonna accomplish for Christ this life needs to be done in a very short amount of time you say well I mean 80 years that seems like a long time it's not it's gonna go by faster than you think it's cliche and everybody I know says it eventually I've said it they say man just the older you get this love the faster it seems to go by everyone says that everyone I've known no one has ever said the opposite you know the older I've gotten time just seems to drag on more and more everyone says man it seems like yesterday you know I graduated yesterday I got married yesterday I had my first kid yesterday whatever it would seem like was just the other day you know it was just the other day was just eight years ago we moved out here from from Michigan but it seems like yesterday because the older you get the more you start to realize life just goes by it like that I mean I remember being a kid you know we'd had summer break because I went to public school and you'd have the summer break and you would start out summer break and you think like man three months off and and then you and then you're like halfway through and you're like oh man I've only got a month and a half I've only got six weeks left and the next thing you know you're in school and it seems like it went by so fast but boy at the beginning when you're young and you're looking at that three months three months seems like an eternity to a child that's nothing was as we get older and you know what that same thing starts to happen to years years start you go over that well it'd be a couple more years you know it's just a year or two you know and you say that to somebody who's a little bit younger they'll take a year or two that's forever you know yeah but it's not it's nothing especially in life but here's the thing life in the scope of eternity is like saying it's like comparing a second to a millennium it's it's not even comparable go over to Psalms chapter 39 Psalms chapter 39 you know I didn't I'm not I don't always like getting you know boxed into preaching certain types of sermons just because certain days now the Mother's Day sermon you preach that one okay otherwise you're gonna you're gonna be a big trouble right the Christmas I enjoy that one Thanksgiving those but you know it wasn't real keen on preaching a resolution sermon especially because I kind of preached one last week but I was I was thinking about this topic you know I think it really is important to preach on I think it really is something that needs to be preached I mean we really need to understand how short our life really is you know and you see it in Scripture the more I thought about it the verses started coming to mind and started to think about certain scriptures you know the Bible does actually teach this that there's quite a there's a lot of emphasis put on the fact that we need to number our days one because God already has God has already put a limit on our life you're not gonna live forever and two you know you see that the psalmist praying and asking for this wisdom this understanding to understand how short his life is look at Psalms 39 verse 4 Lord make me to know my end and the measures of the measure of my days he's saying teach me how long my life is help me to understand the measure of my days what it is that I may know how frail I am you know he's saying you know don't let me walk around like I'm six feet tall and bulletproof he's saying help me to know how frail I am help me know how weak I am help me to know how quickly this life is gonna go by and here's the thing you know the Bible says you have you know four score and ten and five reason or three score and ten and by reason of four score and ten but not everybody's promised that you know as the saying goes you know cask caskets come in all sizes you know we could be young and in the you know and and full of you know life and have our whole lives ahead of us and just be cut off like that we don't know when our last day is gonna come up there's no promise you're gonna get all 80 years and that's kind of what the psalmist is saying here he says help me to know the measure of my days helping know how short my life really is and help me to know how frail I am that you know even if I live a long healthy life you know that's that's a very short measure but even beyond that help me to know that my life could end in any moment you know I'm frail and you know I could die he says in verse five behold thou has made my days as an handbread I love the the the imagery there the the example that he's using as a hand breath you know that that's how we would back in Michigan that's how you knew if you had a keeper when you went bluegill fishing because that's about nine inches right so if it was from here to here you could throw her in the well and go home and eat it right but think about that he's saying my days are as a hand breath you know sometimes it'd be just good to you know look up and just hold that out and look at the breadth of your hand compared to everything else that's your life you know compare it to some horizon compare your hand breath to some you know landscape that's out there hold it up against the night sky and the stars and look at it and say this is your life right here from here to here and then everything else is eternity that's how you measure up that's what he's saying here help me to know the measure of my days how frail that I am behold thou hast made my days as a hand breath you know it's God that did that and it wasn't like God you know accidentally you know set the timer a little too short on our life he purposely made it that way why so that we would apply our hearts unto wisdom so he wouldn't just develop this attitude of well you know I've got another 800 years you know you're a century old you're like yeah I kind of messed up the first hundred years but I got eight more centuries to get this life thing figured out right to get my act together to act responsibly you know to accomplish what I'm accomplish I've got 800 more years no God said you know what you've got 80 120 at the most and and you know when you have that kind of a short time span when your days are as in hand breath and you realize how frail you are you know then you're going to number your days and you're gonna apply your heart unto wisdom that's why you know God did that on purpose I believe that God made our lives short on purpose saying behold thou hast made my days in hand breath and my ages as nothing before thee you say you know in comparison to God you know we think like well I've got my whole life to live and God's just laughs at that he says every man at his best state is altogether vanity you know from God's perspective and if you would go over to James chapter 4 familiar passage but from God's perspective your life the Bible calls is a vapor now I've been getting real familiar with vapors because I've been making a lot of tea for my wife you know I've been you know helping her to recover she's got to drink all this tea I mean I've been making tea by the gallons and I'm not exaggerating you know but you know I and and I always remember being told some I think by my my stepmother that you don't boil tea water you know you get it to simmer you know until you start to see some vapor come off but you don't bring it to that rolling boil right because otherwise you burn the tea leaves that's for free folks you got nothing else today you got that how to boil a proper cup of tea you know your English relatives will appreciate it when they come to visit you know you Americans don't know how to make good tea except in this house right thanks to the preacher but you know you look at that vapor coming off that water that mist or if you've ever lived anywhere where they have you know humidity you know not Arizona or anywhere that had like a significant body of water you know sometimes you go out there you'll see a mist rising off it in the morning you'll see a fog of vapor but how quickly does that go does that last all day you know does that boiling water does that vapor just you know fill the house you know it comes up a little bit and just dissipates and then it's gone and and and the and from our perspective from God's perspective perspective rather God looks down on our life and he calls it a vapor he says that's what you guys remind me of look at verse chapter chapter 13 verse 13 excuse me of James chapter 4 go to now ye that say today to or tomorrow we will go into such a city and continue there a year and buy and sell and get gains so he's talking about people that are just you know making all these big plans about what they're gonna do a year from now right whereas you know not what shall be on tomorrow he's saying you don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow and look I think it's a it's a great idea to make plans but you have to understand something that you don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow now some people will take that and say well we just shouldn't have any plans at all that's a foolish way to live okay that's not what the Bible is teaching here but he is saying here you know that you don't know what's going to be in tomorrow and it's you know you can't just assume what that all the plans you make in life are going to come come to fruition he's saying go to now ye that say today or tomorrow we will go into such a city and come and continue there a year and buy and sell and get gain whereas you know not will be on tomorrow for what is your life it is even a vapor that appearth for a little time and then vanishes away I mean he's saying that's what your life is like that little bit of steam coming off that that boiling water that gets about that far off the pan and then it's just gone you know there's no one up in the space station going like oh these boiling water over there you know I can see the vapor it's coming all the way it's fogging up the windows on the International Space Station you know it doesn't even make it it doesn't even make it to the ceiling and that's what God's God looks down and he says your life is like a vapor and he tells us in verse 15 for that you ought to say if the Lord will we shall live and do this so again not not don't have any plans but just understand that those plans that you're you know a year from now I'm going to go into such and such a city and buy and sell and get gain if the Lord will you know there's a good there's a chance there's a possibility that God has something else in mind or that my life gets cut short and again you know it comes back to this principle of because you don't know what's on tomorrow because we are frail because our days are numbered that should motivate us to apply our hearts unto wisdom and he's saying here look you don't know what's going to happen tomorrow so your attitude ought to be if the Lord will so what's he saying you know what is it that God wants in that year what is it that God wants you to do a year from now what is it that God wants you to do with this life you know and here's the thing that's not a mystery to us you know we have to sit here and scratch our heads and wonder about what God's will is it's all right here there are things that God wants every single one of us to do with this life and it's all right there in the book you know and if we would read it and understand it and listen to it we would know more and more about what the Lord will for us you know we ought to live in the moment right that's kind of what he's saying here that's true but here's the reason why it's because it's the only one you're sure of you know stay in this moment because that's the only one you're really sure of you know that's that that's the the you know the cliche thing that's going around right now you got to be present right try to be present in the moment be here now kind of a thing and i know that's like an eastern you know mysticism kind of attitude of you know the be here now but you know there's a grain of truth to that because even as christians we don't we don't know what's going to happen right now we know when we die where we're going to go you know that's you know we rejoice in that but we ought to try to be in this moment you know and live this moment for the Lord live this day for the Lord because we don't know if tomorrow is going to be the day that we have you know i often think about that when it comes to witnessing to people you know sometimes you know it might come as a shock to some people but sometimes i find myself saying do i really want to give the gospel you know you get a phone call from the church you know someone calls the church about they want to know why you know who the sons of god are why they're not nephilim you know there's some obscure question you know and you get them on the phone not really to try and explain it you get them on the phone and then you go okay this guy isn't a complete nut job all right they're not completely out to lunch now the question is do i give them the gospel you know well maybe somebody else will maybe for you it's a you know or even myself as well but maybe it's some relative you know we see them every so often you know they're not saved maybe we'll get around to it but you know what you don't know what you'll be on tomorrow you don't know if that relative is going to be around you don't know if you're going to be around to give them gospel you know you might be the only light that they have and once you're gone you know there might not be anybody else to give them the gospel so that's what i'm getting at here is you know we should live in that moment we should live and say you know today you know what what is the lord's will today because you might not have tomorrow are you still in psalm 90 if you would go back there you know you need you need to number your days god says that from his perspective your life is like a vapor he likens it under grass it says in verse 1 lord thou has been our dwelling place in all generations before the mountains were brought forth wherever thou has formed the earth and the world even from everlasting to everlasting thou art god so he's saying in the beginning here you know what you know who's everlasting it's god you know who's permanent it's god you know who's always been is always going to me you know who's not going to have to sit down and number his days is god you know god's not worried about disappearing or falling you know dying or or going away or his days coming to an end he's from everlasting to everlasting thou turnest man to destruction and say and sayest return ye children of men that's what he's saying in this in this psalm he's turning into destruction right you know he's turning them towards death and saying your days are numbered and why is it that god does that why does he turn men to destruction why does he put a cap on our life he says there thou turnest man into destruction and sayest return ye children of men you know god does that so that we would turn to god and we would return to him you know that's you know that's why god has given us that short life so that we would think and and apply our hearts under wisdom and say god what do you want me to do with this life what do you want me to do with a little bit of time that you've given me you've turned me toward destruction death is staring me in the face and it's right there what should i do with it let me turn to you and find out he's saying return ye children of men verse four for a thousand years in thy sidebar but as yesterday when it is past and as a watch in the night you know it's like you know a thousand years go by when when when god's gotta you know get up and get a glass of water in the middle of night that's like a thousand years for him it's a watch in the night it's like a day that went by thou carriest them talking about the children men away as with the flood they are as us as asleep in the morning they are like grass which groweth up in the morning it flourishes and groweth up and this is a perfect picture of life you know this is how we all start out in the morning of our life we start out like grass we flourish right we're all young and beautiful in the morning and we grow it up but you know what in the evening we're cut down that's the end of all men that's the end of all of us is to be cut down and he say you know what your life is like the grass in the morning and by evening it's gone that's how quick our life is and he's using all this you know imagery and he's emphasizing this fact so that we would number our days and apply them unto wisdom you need to number your days because god already has you need to number your days because they will not all be the same you know you know you're not always going to be that that morning petunia or whatever you know the body's going to get old it's going to start to hurt it's going to have you're going to have sores that you don't know why you're sore you just are you know the vision the hearing i mean i have i have a constant ringing in my ears now and i and i i've had it for like at least two years and it's gotten great it's like the tmj thing and it's gotten worse and worse and the only time i ever hear it is when i'm trying to get when it's finally quiet enough to hear it you know when he actually wants a piece of quiet and you finally get it now you hear are you trying to sleep at night you know i hey i didn't wasn't born that way i didn't you know i don't remember being eight nine ten fifteen twenty twenty five thirty i didn't i don't remember ever having a ringing in my ears but now i'm you know i'm i'm 40 and it's like i had this ringing in my ears and when is that going to go away i've had on my left foot like every i'm asked my wife i'm limp around the house because i got some kind of plantar fasciitis or something like that i don't know i think it's the tile you know every everything here is tile every house is tile tile you know whatever happened to carpet right i get the dust and everything but it's hard on the feet you know and i'm limping around the house and i'm only 40 you know and and i don't know what's you know what's the next what's gonna happen in 20 years am i gonna be blind is something gonna fall off you know they're gonna be no about the teeth coming out and how bald am i gonna be you know but that's how life is you know we all start out like that morning grass all fresh and and bright but the reality is it's not very long that that starts to fade away and ultimately you know we're going to be cut off number your days because they're not all going to be the same you know the glory of young men is their strength right and the glory of the old man is his is his hoary head is what the scripture says i'm paraphrasing but you know we're not always going to have the strength to do in our old age what we could do in our young age you know if we're as a young person gave our strength to god you know we could accomplish great things for the lord you know if you start early on in life i mean you might see some older more seasoned christian who's who's who's lived for the lord and done things but here's the thing if they got started later in life in the long run you're going to pass them up you know if you start out young and you get to their age and you've lived for the lord you know your whole whole youth you're going to pass by the time you get to be their age you're going to be light years ahead of them you know i see it all the time in our church up and you know in faith word here as well you know when i was and i wasn't 20 years old i wasn't in church you know and i'm not trying to brag about that or anything i'm not proud of that but now i'm meeting guys in their early 20s that are just light years ahead of where i was at 20 years old you know i see kids that are growing up in these godly families and they're just light years ahead of where i was as a child you say well you're the one that they're preaching the bible and so on and so forth yeah but it took a while to get here and all i'm saying is if that you would use those years that i wasted when you got to this point you'd be beyond me even you'd be way beyond any of us a lot of people not everybody but a lot of folks because a lot of people are wasting their youth today on vanity number your days because they're not all going to be the same we're not all going to be strong and beautiful and and and and full of life and energy throughout our whole life that's just not how life works it's i'm sorry but it's just it's as i've heard it described by others a gradual slow slide into the slime right that's what like this you're just slowly slipping off into just you know being senile or something you know that's basically what life is so number your days you know i'm you i'm young i've got my whole life ahead of me yeah but it's going to go by fast how are you using it are you are you applying your heart unto wisdom this morning there are seasons in life is what i'm getting at and they're not all the same you know there's the there's the bright spring of youth and then there's that long cold gray winter called old age you know it's probably not that bad there's some sunny days in the winter too right you know i heard it i i like to read quotes sometimes on some of these topics and i read this one i thought i was good it says youth is when you are allowed to stay up late on new year's eve right that's coming up on thursday i remember being a kid like oh i get to stay up till midnight bang the pots and pans let us some firecrackers you know eat junk food or whatever watch the new york ball drop i probably wouldn't do that anymore but you know back when i was growing up that's what we did you know we got the little poppers and everything and it was a big deal and when you're a youth you know when you get allowed to do that man that's like a treat youth is when you are allowed to stay up late on new year's eve but middle age is when you are forced to right and i was a parent i'm going oh that's what i got to stay up on new year's eve but that meant my parents had to too and all they want to do is like go to bed and just get the next year going right and that's kind of where we're at we let our kids stay up to about nine or ten i think and they they don't we don't stay up to midnight and then we go to bed and it's like hey let's just get the next day going here you know plan for the future but live for today say well you know you're kind of painting a bleak picture this morning if you would go over to uh go over to matthew chapter six and we'll wrap it up there in matthew chapter six and brother corbin my days are numbered life is short and full of full of misery and woe and pain you know my best you know youth is wasted on the youth right my you know life is just going to get harder and wearisome and no no that's not what i'm saying you know there are of course there is an element of truth to that you know life isn't going to always be you know this this this beautiful adventure that we envision in our youth but you know the here's the thing it all kind of depends on you know whether or not you apply your heart unto wisdom whether or not you've outnumbered your days you know people that don't do that people that don't want to live for god that want to live a life of sin you know what they find out is that life is long and hard the bible says the way of the transgressor is hard and there's a lot of people they want life to end you know they they their life gets so miserable they just want it to end already and that's unfortunate i mean what's the difference the difference is the lord you know the lord can prolong your quality of life i mean just think about it from a lifestyle perspective you know we we part with some a lot of times i have to validate people's church attendance and things for this this health insurance program and they this health and it's a very quick questionnaire but they basically want to know you know is this family are they married to the same person do they do they engage in any drug use do they drink alcohol do they attend church and that's really basically it i might be missing one or two questions but they basically want to know what kind of life they're living you know and when a point i'm making is this is that when you live a clean life for the lord that's going to prolong your the quality of your life you know a lot of people can live a long life doing a lot of bad things but it's not very good quality a lot of people can you know live their life just drinking smoking doing drugs partying i mean deep into their you know 50s 60s even but you know what when they get to be that when they get a little older and life catches up with them i mean they you can tell it's been a life of partying you can tell that they've just you know it's been decades of smoking a pack a day or whatever it's been decades of drinking you know a six-pack every day before bed it's been decades of hard liquor and putting things up their nose and sticking things in their in their veins and so on and so forth you can tell it all catches up to them eventually you know i remember me meeting up with somebody recently that lived that kind of lifestyle drugs alcohol smoking the person was in their 60s you looked at a picture they could have passed for 80 teeth fallen out gaunt skinny body racked with disease do you think they went into life going yeah that's how i'm going to end my life racked with disease full of cancer you know that's how i want to end life no one starts out life what what do you want to do when you grow up little billy you know i want to i want to you know i'm trying to get too graphic here you know but i want to end up on a deathbed you know dying a slow of a slow painful disease nobody says that but nobody applies not everybody applies their heart into wisdom not everybody considers the lord in their life and that's exactly what they end up doing a lot of times in their life drinking themselves to death getting cancer from all the toxins they've been putting in their body so on and so forth the point i'm making is this you know number your days and apply your heart unto wisdom and the lord will prolong your life and he will give you a quality life you know old age doesn't have to be this you know just this decrepit state of uselessness you know you can have a lot of wisdom you can have a lot of knowledge you can have a lot of understanding you can still do a lot of great works for god i mean moses was 80 when he took the children of israel out of the land of egypt he did his greatest works in the latter end of his life you know a great another great example that is joshua who was there was among the number that came up out of egypt remember when they sent the the 12 spies over 10 were bad and two were good if you know the song right the two that came were good were joshua and caleb you know and god morack you know god prolonged their life and when i don't have the time to read it when you get into joshua chapter 14 when they're doling out the inheritance caleb in his 80s says i want to go take that mountain of the amorites the one of the most difficult battles there were and he said in verse 11 as yet i am as strong this days as i was in the day that moses sent me as my strength was then even so is my strength now for war about to go out and to come in now therefore give me this mountain and here's a man is 80 saying i'm as strong as i was when i was 40 that's quite the statement because that's typically not how it works you know typically you're much weaker at that age but he's saying and not i'm not weaker i'm just as strong if not stronger i'm just as capable of going out and fighting the lord's battles at 80 as i was when i was 40 no what was the difference was it a clean diet i mean maybe you know he probably had some wisdom that area but it was the lord it was his faithfulness to god god miraculously preserved him in fact the bible even says when when god finally killed moses you know took him home that his that his natural force was not abated and he was even older than that i mean he he he even in his old age was like a young man and that was because of the lord so you know number your days this morning because of the fact that god you know you're going to get old whether you like it or not you know if you manage to live that long you're still going to get old you know you're still going to get the gray hair and everything else that comes along with getting old but if you'll number your days and apply your heart and wisdom the quality of that life will be better you'll have i mean it doesn't take a genius to figure out that you're going to have more strength physically if you know than the guy who spent his whole life smoking you know if you live a clean life not doing drugs and alcohol and smoking when you get to be 60 70 80 don't you think you're going to be better in better shape than the guy that that was who's going to have the better chance of getting cancer at that age the guy who was doing all those things that increase your risks of getting cancer right number your days because god already has number your days because they're not all going to be the same number your days because god can prolong the quality of your life number your days that you might be wise you know when we come to terms with what the bible is teaching us this morning about the fact that we are faced toward destruction that our days are numbered we will spend our days more wisely hopefully you know that's that's the point of the sermon you know and and hearing it's not enough you can't just go yeah that's true and walk out of here and just it's going to happen naturally you have to get the right priorities in life as a christian if you understand this this morning say you know what the bible is right you know what the preacher's saying is right my days are numbered they're few it's going to be over before and i know it's like a vapor it's in hand breath it's like grass that's cut down it's up in the morning and gone in the evening it's that fast life it goes by so quick then you need to get your priorities right as a christian you know and this is why i'm preaching this today because we're coming up on the new year and i didn't want to preach it on thursday which would have been more appropriate when you think about it i'm getting out of the way now you know that's why i'm preaching this so you'll walk out this morning and say you know what i might have my whole life ahead of me mine might be half over i might only have a few more decades you know i don't think there's any room that would say you know i've only got you know a year or two at best right no one's no one's gotten that nigh on in years you know it could be any moment now you know no one here has got one foot on a banana peel on the other in the grave as they say right but whatever span you have in life whatever however big or short that is however long or short that span of life you have left according to scripture you can still do a lot with it if you'll get your priorities straight as a christian and god can do a lot and with a little it's even a short amount of time are you in matthew chapter six if you look there and uh verse uh let's just pick it up in let's read in verse 24 it says no man can serve two matters masters for he will hate the one and he can't and love the other or else he will hold to the one and despise the other you cannot serve god and mammon so speaking of priorities right he's saying look you can't serve both you know it's it's a very rare thing for a person who can serve god and become incredibly wealthy those things usually don't go hand in hand now people can do well for themselves you know and and and and work hard and labor and get gain and and even people but you know most of the people that i know that are like that who have the ability to make a lot of money typically don't what they end up doing is providing for other people you know providing jobs and so on and so forth they don't just you know and they don't just you know what's the word i'm looking for they don't just indulge themselves in excess you know they're very modest people and he's saying here look i'm talking about getting your priorities right and here's a big priority you know are you going to serve god or mammon because you can't serve both now i understand we all got to work we all got to make a living you know but here's the thing some people go beyond that they want more than what they need they want they don't want just the modest home you know the decent food the reliable vehicle you know the good clothing they got to have the best of everything the newest of everything they got to have just just everything has to be the best of everything and that's what they make their life all about you know and here's the thing you can have all that but you can't serve god you can have all that but you know what when you die none of it's going with you job said naked came i forth from my mother's womb and naked shall i return thither naked i came naked i go yeah it doesn't matter how many toys you rack up it doesn't matter how much wealth you amass in this life it's all gonna just it's all gonna rust it's all gonna burn it's all gonna go away so he's saying here you know what you can't serve god and mam and you might as well just get your priorities right and if you'll do that god will prolong your life you know and you'll accomplish something for god he said verse 25 therefore i say until you take no thought for your life what you shall eat or what you shall drink nor what your body what you shall put on is not the life more than meat and the body more than raiment behold the fowls of the air they sow not neither do they reap nor gather into barns yeah your heavenly father feedeth them are you not much better than they so the context is here is he's basically saying you know don't worry about getting a job he's saying we should work you know we know the bible teaches that he's saying don't worry about things don't worry about where all these things are going to come from don't worry about food and raiment you know be content with such things as you have he said verse 27 which of you by taking thought can add one cubit onto a stature and why take you thought for raiment consider the lilies of the field how they grow they toil not neither do they spin yet i say unto you that even solomon and all his glory was not arrayed even like one like one of these wherefore if god uh if god so clothed the grass of the field which is today today is and tomorrow is cast in the oven shall they not much more clothe you oh ye of little faith he's saying look god's got you he's going to take care of you just get your priorities straight therefore take no thought saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or which shall be clothed for after all these things do the gentiles seek for your heavenly father father knoweth that you have need of all these things but seek ye first the kingdom of god and his righteousness that's a very familiar passage a lot of people already know this a lot of people have heard this over and over and over again but how many of us have are really putting that into practice and making sure that we're putting god first when it comes to our decision making about what we're going to do for a living about where we're going to live about what we're going to do with our time how we're going to live our life so on and so forth all the many decisions that you have to make beyond just food and raiment all the decisions that come in life you better make sure you have your priorities straight that you're putting god first and this is a great time of year to think about this type of thing because a lot of people are going to set goals this year they're going to set goals they're going to have these things that they want to achieve they're going to set goals for the new year and for life in general you know what you better make sure those prior you have the priorities straight that you're putting first the kingdom of god and when you make those decisions and you know what it's not enough to just make decisions you know it takes character to see it through you know it's one thing to say you know what everything the preacher said this morning is right the bible is right i need to get my priorities straight i'm gonna do this this and this and this and make a list plan it all out write it all down and then you know what do nothing with it you actually have to follow through you know and that's a whole other sermon in of itself but another another quote i read was this the average life of a good resolution 20 minutes i'm going to lose weight this year you know december 31st this is it we're going into it you know january 1st wow 20 minutes you know habits take time to form so take the time to form them you know that's really another sermon really in and of itself but i just wanted to preach a sermon and emphasize the fact today that we need to number our days and apply our hearts unto wisdom because god already has the our days numbered and he did that on purpose to that end god has purposely designed life to be quick so that not so that we could just fit in as much fun and sin as we can in one short little life but rather that we return to him and say what can i do to invest this little bit of time that you've given me to yield the most results in eternity because you know this isn't a bleak sermon this morning oh life's gonna end quickly yeah but then there's eternity forever there's eternal life with christ but our rewards are based on this life so we gotta make sure we get our priorities straight and we do that by doing what by numbering our days let's go ahead and pray