Remember as a kid what a big deal it was to finally be able to count to a hundred? I can think back . . . show time!!! . . . Pete will now count to one hundred . . . all by himself . . . listen now! . . . Good job, Pete! Kind of makes you smile. But, it turns out, when all is said and done, it was probably more math than I really absolutely needed to know.

The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. . . . So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.   (Psalm 90:10, 12 ESV)

We can think we’re so smart. We try and count everything . . . everything from how many species of animals in a region to how many stars in our galaxy . . . we count how many miles to the next city . . . and try and count how many light years to the next galaxy? You think about it, we count tons and tons of stuff. But Moses (yeah, Moses wrote this psalm . . . he was also a poet and songwriter . . . who knew?) asks the Lord not to teach him “the new math” but to help him do the math when it comes his number of days . . . for in doing that, says the man of God, we gain a heart of wisdom.

I read years ago that wisdom is “skillful living” . . . and at the core of skillful living is the ability . . . and willingness . . . to do the math. It’s the practical math . . . the math that can lead us to deep thought . . . the math that can be so helpful in focusing the priorities of our lives . . . the math that help us to “live wisely and well” (MSG).

And as I think about it a bit more, the value in doing the math is not so we can focus on the end . . . but so that we are always mindful of the beginning. It’s the math that can cause us to pause and consider the things of eternity. And in considering the life beyond the years here, we seek the way to be prepared . . . and we desire the things that lay up treasures in heaven . . . and we focus on things whereby we might here from the Master, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Because we do the math we can have life . . . and have it to the full . . . both now and forever.

Lord, teach me to do the math. Thank You for giving me all I need to learn to count my days. Not that I can count to one hundred . . . but that I have the Spirit in residence teaching me about home . . . preparing me for home . . . setting my heart on the place prepared for me. And in that, there is wisdom . . . skillful living . . . that I might know life to the max . . . and that I might hear again some day, this time from Your lips, “Good job, Pete!”

. . . and it will all be because of Your grace . . . and all for Your glory . . .