MOTIVATE

I heard a story of a man who approximated the number of years he would live and placed that many marbles in a jar. At his birthday he would take out a marble and each year the pile would shrink. His reasoning was that each year was important and to be mindful that how it was spent. Indeed, life is short and time is ticking for all of us.

This is not meant to be gloomy. When you look at life’s fragility it has the potential to not just to gloom but bloom. God gave us a life to gain perspective. What’s your life perspective?

EXAMINE   Psalm 90       Perspectives of life that we must never lose sight of:

Home is where you dwell (90:1-2).

The psalmist prays in affirmation of God as a refuge. God has been a source of protection and provision for the Israelites in every generation, and even more – as one whom is eternal. God loves His people and wants to be with them. He takes joy in their worship and in return gives care over their lives.

There’s a sign in front of an apartment complex that has been there for at least 20 years, it says, “If you lived here you’d be home.” Well… of course the obvious, but the broader point is that living there would provide a stationary home to where you would need not to look elsewhere. God is such a home.

Where do you dwell? This question goes beyond your physical address. And this is especially true for those who are transient or for some reason displaced from their home due to job or illness. You can take comfort that your home a greater than an earthly location but in one whom is eternal.

2 Corinthians 5:1-7 ¹ For we know that if our earthly house, a tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. ² And, in fact, we groan in this one, longing to put on our house from heaven, ³ since, when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. ⁴ Indeed, we who are in this tent groan, burdened as we are, because we do not want to be unclothed but clothed, so that mortality may be swallowed up by life. ⁵ And the One who prepared us for this very thing is God, who gave us the Spirit as a down payment. ⁶ Therefore, though we are always confident and know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord— ⁷ for we  walk by faith, not by sight—

Age is God’s gift to you; how you spend each day and year is your gift to God (90:3-12).

The psalmist goes on to reflect about the years of life a person has. Time in God’s eyes is only like a moment (90:4-6). He stands outside of time’s existence and has the perspective of all eternity. And yet, God gives most of us many years of life experiences – “some 70-80 years”. The prayer is that we understand how to make the most of them. How we spend our days and years is a reflection of our view of our beliefs about God, eternity and people. The person who spends their time wisely is the person who sees God clearly.

ð     Encourage older generations to share experiences and wisdom with younger generations.

–          Don’t stop talking and telling your stories.

–          The best way to find a friend is to be one.

God’s love is unending (90:14-15), immeasurable (90:16) and indescribable (90:17).

The psalmist closes his reflections on God’s faithful love. Only God’s love satisfies because His love is perfect; it is unending (“steadfast”), it is immeasurable and indescribable (“glorious power…and beauty” in our lives and to future generations).

One of the themes of the psalms, and really of the entire Bible, is to know God’s love personally and then to share God’s love publically [LOVE GOD – LOVE OTHERS]. Psalm 78:4-7; Psalm 103:17; Psalm 145:4

APPLY/THINK

Never lose sight of God and His love. He is always with you. Live a life of faith with the hope of eternity in view of God’s grace.