* Psalm 90:12 - Numbering Our Days

So teach us to number our days, that we may attain a heart of wisdom. -- Psalm 90:12, RLIV.

THE Christian, in numbering his days, does not do so with a doleful or disconsolate sentiment, although he does so with sobriety. He counts the days as they go as so many blessings, so many privileges, so many opportunities to "show forth the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light," to render assistance to others in the pilgrim journey, and to develop in himself more and more of the character pleasing in the sight of God, -- to become more and more a copy of God's dear Son. -- Excerpt from "The Close of a Noble Life", ZWT, October 15, 1901.

The meaning of "number our days" appears to be the equivalent of saying "make our days count". Sadly, very few of the consecrated do this at an early age, and even those who endeavor to do so often fall short. As we grow older, we gain experience and experience often gives us wisdom. People of the world are also learning wisdom to some extent as they grow older, and such may be of benefit for them in the day of judgment. For the child of God, however, the wisdom needed centers in Christ, through whom we obtain the wisdom of God. -- 1 Corinthians 1:30. -- RRD.

To make our days count to attain wisdom, we should have our minds set on the Heavenly Father and His Son constantly, in everything that we may say, do, or even think. It also means that we have to study what God has revealed in the Bible, with the goal of applying the principles we learn from such study to everything we do throughout each day. We should not, however, expect to become perfect in the flesh totally, but rather the goal is to perfect our faith and love in our hearts as new creatures, which will lead to subjection of the flesh to the new creature. -- RRD.

The following is adapted from The Herald of Christ's Kingdom, March 1929. The name of the author is not given:

When we gave ourselves in full consecration to the Lord, we agreed that "the time past of our life" had sufficed to have wrought in us "the will of the Gentiles" (1 Peter 4:3), and that. we should not "henceforth live unto ourselves, but unto Him which died for us and rose again." (2 Corinthians 5 :15) It was then we began truly to number our days. We commenced to measure each day by the work to be performed and by the purposes to which life should be applied; and since that time, to whatever extent our days have, in humble submission to the Divine will, been filled with acts of obedience and love, and have been given their own measure of faithfulness, they have been numbered. They have been made to count. They have, so to speak, been registered in the Divine records. The days of idleness, those where selfishness has controlled, as well as those marked by lost opportunities, unaccepted privileges and blessings, have been unnumbered.

1 Corinthians 1:30 - Christ - Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification and Redemption

But out of him, you are united in Christ Jesus, who was made to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption. -- 1 Corinthians 1:30, RLIV.

HE who redeemed us, or bought us with the sacrifice of His own life, gives us, as our Prophet or Teacher, wisdom by His Gospel, to see our fallen state and Himself as our helper; as our Priest, He first justifies us and then sanctifies or consecrates us, as His under priesthood; and finally, as King, He will fully deliver the faithful from the dominion of sin and death, to the glory, honor and immortality of the divine nature; -- for "God will raise up [from the dead] us also, by Jesus." "Hallelujah! What a Savior!" Truly He is able and willing to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by Him.-- Excerpt from "Hallelujah! What a Savior", ZWT, December 1, 1903. 

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We should first note that verse 30 is a continuation of verse 29, and thus begins by referring back to "God" of verse 29. All is from God through Christ (1 Corinthians 8:6), and God unites his people in Christ. This refers to a fellowship with Christ and all who belong to Christ. Sadly, many who belong to Christ adopt the childish attitude of seeking to separate themselves from other Christians over this or that viewpoint regarding various scriptures. This comes by believing that one's viewpoint is true and that all others have to accept that viewpoint in order to be accepted in fellowship. The apostle Paul called such carnal thinking and those Christians who think this way as babes in Christ. Nevertheless, the unity of the Lord's people from his standpoint is greater than all of our petty differences and viewpoints. -- RRD.

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The union of God's people is not that of being united with this or that external denomination, organization, movement, sect, association, etc. Many profess to belong to Christ who do not actually belong to Christ. Jesus spoke of this mixed condition within the church in his parable of the wheat and the tares. (Matthew 13:24-23) It is God, however, who does the calling, and we do not call ourselves. Some have sought to separate the wheat from the tares along carnal, fleshly lines, but Jesus told us that tares are to be separated from the wheat, not by humans, but by angels. Nevertheless, Jesus knows those who are truly his (John 10:25-29), irrespective of any sectarian or denominational ties. -- RRD.

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God has made Jesus to be wisdom to us. Jesus came to declare his God to us (John 1:18; 1 John 5:20), and he came to declare the words of wisdom from his God. Thus Jesus said that the words he spoke were not his own, but those of his Father who had sent him. (John 7:16; 8:28,40; 12:49; 14:10,24) We have those words of wisdom, not only in the Gospels, but also in the entire New Testament, since that which has been revealed through Jesus' apostles is also from Jesus, who, in turn, delivered the words of wisdom from God. (1 Corinthians 2:6,7,13) James refers to this wisdom as being from above. -- James 3:17.

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God has made Jesus to be our righteousness. God sent Jesus to die for our sins. What crooked man could not do (Ecclesiastes 1:15; 7:13), God did by providing a body for his Son that is not sinful (Hebrews 10:5), not condemned in Adam's sin. (Romans 5:12-19) By his faithfulness until death, Jesus' sacrificial death offset what Adam did, thus providing the basis for righteousness apart from the Law. -- Romans 3:21; 10:4; 1 Corinthians 15:21,22; Philippians 2:8; 3:9; 1 Timothy 2:5,6.

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God has made Jesus to be our sanctification. Because God sent Jesus as his Anointed One (Christ, Messiah), and Jesus proved himself faithful to death and thus died for our sins, Jesus is the only way that we can be reconciled to God. Such reconciliation results in our being sanctified, consecrated, dedicated, and thus set apart in the midst of a world that is alienated from God due to sin. As new creatures in Christ, we are no longer of this world that is corrupted through sin.

More to follow, God willing.

02-23 - Psalm 32:8 - I Will Instruct You

I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you shall go. I will guide you with my eye. -- Psalm 32:8, RLIV.

God's "eye" in a sense could be understood as referring to His wisdom. God's wisdom can be seen in the creation all around us as well in the way we are made. God originally created man with righteous wisdom in his heart, but this engrained wisdom has been marred by man's disobedience. Thus, the need to, by faith, heal the scars of sin through the blood of Jesus, and come to the words of wisdom revealed to us in the Bible. In this manner we can be instructed in Jehovah's ways that we may be guided by His eye of wisdom.

Nevertheless, God leads His children by means of His Holy Spirit. Also closely associated with being instructed in and guided by God's wisdom is chastisements designed to give correction to us a children of God. While such may not be pleasant to endure, we should not despise his chastisements, for we are assured that his chastening is because of His love for us as His children and will be for our own good. (Hebrews 12:6-11) What comfort we can draw from this assurance. This helps us to meekly submit to the chastening hand of our Heavenly Father.

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Daily Heavenly Manna for February 23 * BSM Aids * Video

Guided by God's Eye

Journeying to Canaan

A Man After God's Own Heart

Israel's Guiding Light

God's Eyes (Scriptures)

Wisdom (Scriptures)

Chastisement (Scriptures)

Psalm 111:10 - The Beginning of Wisdom

{Psalm 111:10} The reverence of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom. -- RLIV.

Ephesians 5:15,16 -- Watch Carefully How You Walk

Therefore watch carefully how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise; redeeming the time, because the days are evil.  - (Ephesians 5:15,16, World English)

The Greek word translated "watch carefully" as used above is not referring only to seeing with the physical eye, but includes the meaning: "to turn the thoughts or direct the mind to a thing, to consider, contemplate, to look at, to weigh carefully, examine" and it also includes the meaning of "turning towards any quarter". For the child of God, it denotes being aware of one's surroundings, not with the thought of experiencing all the evil that is around us, but rather that the new creature is to be on the lookout for recognition of various forms of evil, so that we might use our time wisely in harmony with God's will, and not with that which is evil. Such calls for wisdom that comes, not from man of sinful flesh, but rather from above. (James 3:15,17) Such wisdom seeks to know God's will in all things, and promotes loyalty to God and His Word regardless of circumstances and surroundings. -- Ronald R. Day, Sr.

Other Comments:

Our watchfulness often depends on our ability to "see" things from the correct spiritual perspective. All of those who belong to Christ are at many different levels of spiritual development, and some may be able to see spiritual things more clearly than others. Paul speaks of those who, although consecrated, continue to think as babes in Christ. Often, what one thinks up beyond what is written is then thought of as thinking "spiritually". As a result, one may walk according to the carnal wisdom, rather than according to the wisdom of God. 

We are told that we are to be "redeeming" the time. The Greek word "redeeming", as used here, may mean to "take full advantage of". The world offers many distractions from our service to God and Jesus, and such distractions can be time-consuming. We have to be mentally alert so that we do not become carried away with such distractions and we fail to walk wisely before God. In all that we do, we should be constantly mindful of Jesus, his Father, and the righteous principles they have given us in the Bible. -- Ronald R. Day, Sr.

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Because the Days Are Evil

Songs in the Night - December 13.