Editor

(Mat 17:2 KJV)  And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.
(Mat 17:3 KJV)  And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.

In Wednesday night Bible study, someone asked the question, “Why is this story in the Bible?”   I don’t think we ever got an adequate answer, but that’s just the nature of our Wednesday night Bible study.  One thought that occurred to me was that everything Jesus said and did is not included in the Bible.  John tells us that at the end of his gospel.  The writer had to decide what to put in and what to leave out.  Then you have the belief that the Holy Spirit is the One who guided the writing.

Think of God as being the editor of the gospel of Matthew.  He put in what He wanted to put in for His own purposes.  I wonder if the mention of these two prophets is to give us an awareness of the faith of Old Testament saints.  There were many Jews who did not believe in an afterlife.  Although the New Testament is for Christians, Matthew was written towards the Jews.  This may have been reminding them that there is an afterlife.  It may also help tie Jesus to the Old Testament plan of the atonement.

So?  Read and learn.  Let your mind investigate.  God teaches in many different ways. 

Bridge Word

(Psa 118:29 KJV)  O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

This verse has one of my favorite Old Testament words, chesed (2617).  It is often translated “loving kindness”.  Another common one is what we see here in the KJV, the word “mercy”.  I think of this being the Old Testament version of the Greek word agape.  It speaks of the love of God, and his attitude towards us and the rest of creation.

You’re all familiar with first Corinthians 13.  There it talks about how prophecy will go away, tongues will cease, knowledge will be done away.  At the end the chapter talks about faith, hope, and love, and only love will really endure and it’ll be the greatest.

So? When you think of love think of loving kindness, and give it a chance in your life. 

Real People

(Psa 109:12 KJV)  Let there be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children.

It is hard to believe that this Psalm was written by same man who wrote the 23rd.  In the 23rd Psalm David talks about the Lord being a shepherd.  It is gracious and full of faith and trust.  In the 109th Psalm we find a totally different David.  This has got to be one of the most depressing bits of scripture I’ve ever read.  This verse gives you the feel for it.

The people of the Bible are real people.  They are not constructs designed to make us feel good, or to give us fairytale views of life.  They are complex people dealing with real emotions in real situations.  They do not stand above life.  They participate.

So?  Accept the fact that life has a lot of variety.  It has challenges.  It has rewards.  If we understand that, then we can be more on the alert for the down times, and by trusting, and obeying, we can keep them to a minimum. 

All Encompassing

(Psa 104:33 KJV)  I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.

There are times when I have a hard time focusing on the attributes of God.  My mind keeps drifting.  The other day I was looking for a scripture which would lift up God and explain who He is and give me reasons to rejoice in Him.  This chapter in Psalms fits that bill.  If you read through the whole chapter, it is a bunch of illustrations of how God is active in creation and involved in what He’s made.

There are two or three focal points that bring us to the moment of praise.  This verse is one of them.  The Psalm covers everything from the creation of the heavens to making the grass grow.  What a God we serve.

So? Worship the Lord in the glory of holiness. 

Honing

 (Pro 27:17 KJV)  Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

In this verse, Moffett hits the nail on the head.  Instead of “sharpening” he uses the word “honing” for what is being described.  Iron is not sharpened with iron. It is generally sharpened with stone, grinding stones and such as that.  Think of your workshop.  If you have a grinder, it’s not a steel or iron wheel, but a stone wheel.

Sharpening with a stone removes large amounts of material.  When you have major chips out of your blade, then you need to sharpen it ,which grinds it down to the point where it can be made sharp.  If you are dealing with a knife that’s just a little bit dull you don’t need to grind off a lot of steel. What you do is you straighten out the blade.  This is honing or stropping, which I believe is another word for it.

I think honing is a better word here.  Honing is a kind of sharpening but it’s more fine, more precise, more delicate.  It’s more the approach that we need when we get together with friends to talk about spiritual things.  We usually aren’t out to attack and grind them down, but to fine-tune.

So?  Help your friends to get that razor edge of spiritual life that allows them to cut through all the garbage that is given to us.  Don’t assume they need a major work over.

Useless

(Pro 26:7 KJV)  The legs of the lame are not equal: so is a parable in the mouth of fools.

When I read about a lame man, I tend to think of someone who is hobbling along with a cane or a walker or something like that.  They are able to get around, but it doesn’t go very well at all.  Now when I read the NASB, it tells me that the actual word for lame means hanging down, which is much more serious.  It means legs that are utterly useless.  That brings me to how Moffett translates this verse which I like,

    “Like the limbs of a lame man,
    so maxims limp on the lips of a fool;”

This tells us that wisdom is not only weakened in the hands of a fool, but is made totally useless.

So?  Don’t waste your time trying to pass on deep truths to people who are total fools.  Of course we have to be careful whom we consider fools because Jesus warned us about just casually calling people that, but at the same time Proverbs makes it very clear that some people are total fools. 

612 to Go

(Deu 16:21 KJV)  Thou shalt not plant thee a grove of any trees near unto the altar of the LORD thy God, which thou shalt make thee.

You may have heard of the 613 laws that we are supposed to keep if we want to follow the law.  The number is a creation of the rabbis.  We can go into that some other time.  One of those laws is listed here.

This law says something to the effect that you are not to plant a tree in the courtyard of the temple.  Two of the lists I have state it slightly different.

    Not to plant trees near the altar.
    Not to plant a tree in the Temple courtyard

Unfortunately, that’s not what the verse actually says, either in the King James, or the New American Standard.  It is certainly not what the Hebrew says.  The word used for “grove” in the KJV is given literally in the NASB, “Asherah” (842).  It is the proper name of a deity of the area.  They are not supposed to build idols of this deity around the altar.  This is not a different law.  This is simply an application of the commandment to not make idols.

The 613 Commandment people seem to have developed their list from the Septuagint.  This is  common problem with the Rabbis and Talmud.

So?  Just because something has been passed down from centuries in the past does not make it accurate.  Keep thinking and doing your homework. 

The Way of the Law

(Psa 103:7 KJV)  He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.

(Proverbs 24 also read)

I have commented from time to time on the lack of concern about the law in the book of Psalms.  In fact, David seems to praise the law and lift it up as a wonderful thing.  Here he gives us an interesting interpretation.  In referring to the giving of the law, he says that God was simply sharing with us His “ways” (1870).

That is an interesting way of looking at the law.  It is not a rigid cage to hold us in and make our lives difficult.  It is God showing us how He expects life to be lived.  It is an owners manual, telling us the technical details of how to maintain our piece of equipment.

So?  Why not follow the manual?  It gives us all the specifications that we really need.

BYOB

(Pro 23:21 KJV)  For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.

Today the word that stood out to me, was “drowsiness”.  It stood out, not because of the word itself, but because of the word that Moffatt substituted for it.  He calls it reveling.  Now the word drowsy is a much better translation of the Hebrew.  One of the problems we have is this is the only place it is used in the Bible.  The word is used so that makes it hard to understand.  When he uses reveling instead of drowsy, he is taking a bit of liberty.  He is interpreting.

I like his interpretation as a rabbit trail to follow in trying to understand the dangers of alcohol.  I don’t drink myself, but I am amazed at how expensive it is when you go out to eat and they actually have a list of alcoholic beverages available.  I remember going to one nice restaurant and they had this little kiosk on the desk on the table and it was listing individual whiskeys at about $25 a glass.  How can anybody afford that kind of thing.  Anyhow, I see how drinking can drive you into poverty.  Poverty means that you’re dressed in rags.  What struck me about this was a testimony.  I heard one time of a Korean gentleman who said that when he became a Christian in Korea, his disposable income went up 75% because when he became a Christian, he quit drinking and gambling and doing other kinds of activities that tend to suck out all of his financial support.

So?  Sometimes it’s the application of the truth that brings home why we should be living holy lives.  No, you don’t go to hell for having one drink.  No, alcoholic beverages are not automatically condemned in scripture.  But, it’s clear that there is a real danger of damaging your life and your family by the wrong priorities. 

Know the Difference

(Pro 22:3 KJV)  A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.

As I was reading Moffatt’s translation this morning, I came across this verse, and it made me stop and think.  He starts off,

    “a cautious man sees danger and takes cover.”

That is basically the same statement, but I thought it was interesting that he use the word cover instead of hiding.  If you ever look into how to keep yourself safe out on the streets or in life, you will notice that there is a difference between cover and concealment.  Cover is going someplace where there is an obstacle between you and danger, it keeps you safe.  Concealment is simply a matter of covering up so that you can’t be seen.  It may keep you safe, it may not, it all depends on whether the person creating the problem sees you or not.

The King James has the idea of making yourself invisible.  Moffett has the idea of removing yourself from the danger and keeping yourself safe.

So?  You decide.  Do you just want to hide, or do you want safety.  When you come to Jesus, you’re not hiding, you’re finding safety.  He covers.

Does It Matter?

(Pro 21:1 KJV)  The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.

As I read this this morning, I found myself wondering if it made any difference whether the king was devout, or whether he was rebellious.  For some reason, I thought it would make a big difference.  In reality, God has the power to direct minds and influence decisions if He chooses to.  The question is, “Will He choose to?”

The Providence of God is always a mystery.  Sometimes He chooses to act in very obvious and powerful ways.  Other times He might decide to work quietly and behind the scenes.  I think He tends to go with the quiet more than the obvious.

So?  When you look at the political situation, and you wonder if there’s anyone in authority with moral integrity, keep in mind that God can prevail if He chooses to.  Our part in this is to lift people up in prayer and to be in contact with God Himself, so that we make sure we’re on the right side.  He is still on the throne. 

Immunity

(Psa 112:7 KJV)  He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD.

(Proverbs 20 also read)

Sometimes I think it’s a good thing that I don’t have a daily newspaper I can trust nor a source of news that I consult regularly on the Internet.  The reason I don’t is because there are so few places where you can trust what you hear or what you read.  Sometimes I think we avoid reading it because everything is bad news or as this verse says “evil tidings.  We don’t like what we hear.  It seems so negative.

That’s not healthy.  We need to keep gathering information, reading, listening, and thinking.  And we need to do it in the spirit of trust and faith in the Lord God Almighty.  As someone said, “He’s got this”.  We need to remember that we need to live in anticipation because of that.

So?  Live in boldness.  Live in confidence.  The news may be bad, but God is in the business of taking sinners and turning them into righteous believers.  You can do the same with the daily news.  

Blame Game

(Pro 19:3 KJV)  The foolishness of man perverteth his way: and his heart fretteth against the LORD.

Moffett again has an interesting interpretation.

“A man’s own folly ruins his affairs —
Then he gets angry with the Eternal!”

Think of the times you’ve been walking down a street or sidewalk and you either trip or stub your toe.  What I usually do is turn around and glare at the ground to see what the ground did to make me look like a klutz.  Most of the time I can’t find anything unusual, and if I am being honest with myself, I admit I did it.  Too often in life we are only looking for other people to blame and God seems to be a good target.

There are times when God puts difficult times in front of us, so that we can grow.  I think that most of the difficulty we have, though, comes because of our own folly.

So?  It always helps if we work on being honest with ourselves and honest with God.  It’s pointless trying to cover things with God and will help us to be honest with Him if we don’t try to cover them up to ourselves. 

Modifiers

(Pro 18:5 KJV)  It is not good to accept the person of the wicked, to overthrow the righteous in judgment.

We need to be careful when we read the translations of more modern times.  I realize that Moffett is not really modern because it comes from the early 1900s, but compared to the King James and Geneva Bible, it is modern.  I guess it would be better to say to be careful of people who tend to paraphrase and look for cool ways of saying things.

We run into that problem in this verse with Moffett. He starts this verse off this way,

“It is not fair to favor the guilty,”

At first, I thought that sounded pretty good, but then I did a little bit of digging.  I did a search in my Bible software on the word “fair”.  It seems that the word is used in the King James only to refer to being attractive or good looking.  I may have missed a place somewhere but that seems to be what’s going on.  The concept of being fair in the sense of balance is not a Biblical concept.   We run into it a lot in our political discussions and with people who want to manipulate our system.  We might run into it in our discussions of theology, or not.

God is not concerned about being fair as we have defined it.  He is concerned about justice, truth, righteousness, and a host of other Biblical concepts rooted in His character.

So?  Make sure that you understand the meaning of words in the Bible when you try to apply them to the teachings of the Bible. 

Literal Hope

(Mat 17:18 KJV)  And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.

As we were looking at this verse in our Wednesday night Bible study, I noticed that the King James was much more literal than the New American Standard.  When I compare them, the final phrase in the new American standard was,

    “...and the boy was cured at once.”

The footnote for the New American Standard said it literally should be translated the way the King James has it.  Interesting.  There are times when the literal is the best.

What I didn’t see until I compared them to note the difference was that the King James brings the hope for the future.  It points out that the boy was not only healed, but he was healed from that very hour.  This tells me that it was a permanent healing, not just a psychosomatic involvement.

So?  God offers us hope for the future.  He does things in the context of history.  He does things in the context of eternal life. 

The Best Laid Plans…

(Pro 16:1 KJV)  The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.

I would say that Moffatt does a good job of translating, or paraphrasing, this verse.

    “A man may think what he will say, but at the moment the word comes to him from the Eternal.”

This is true in every day life but where it speaks to me most is in the area of preaching.  It is hard to express to people what preaching is like, because as much as I prepare, as carefully as I think it out, as detailed as my outline is, it’s sometimes comes out totally different.  I often say things that I had not planned on saying.  I frequently leave out things that I thought were important.  Sometimes I’m aware of the changes.  Sometimes I’m not.

You could lay this down to personality, insight, editorial changes, or anything else but when it comes to preaching, at least, I think it has to do with the leading of the Holy Spirit.  That is the way preaching should be.  We should prepare and pray and be ready.  We need to allow the Holy Spirit to take our preparation and present it in His way.

So?  I guess it also applies to every day conversations.

Distillery

(Pro 15:2 KJV)  The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.

Although both of my regular translations stated the first part of this verse well, Moffett has an interesting insight.  He says,

    “Knowledge distills from wise discourse”

What that tells me is that I can learn not just because I use knowledge myself but because I listen to others.  It means that I am capable of dialoguing with other people and gaining from their wisdom.  I process what I hear through the wealth of knowledge and experience that I have.

So?  Listen.  Think.  Remember.  And grow in wisdom.

Be an Ox

(Pro 14:4 KJV)  Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox.

Once again, Moffatt’s translation makes me sit up and take notice.  This verse starts off very simply,

    “No oxen, no corn:”

I think we often tend to overlook the people who are doing the basic tasks, but keep our lives going.  We forget to be thankful for their efforts.  What they do is not glorious. It is not sexy. But it is necessary.

It would help if we would be thankful for these people, and it might be a great thing to do to thank them for what they contribute.

So?  Maybe we should start thanking the clerks stocking the shelves in the grocery stores when we walked by.  Sure they get paid.  I also think they are unappreciated.  Perhaps the clerk behind the counter when you get a hamburger needs to be thanked for their consistency and showing up for work.  The list is endless.  Who knows, it might become a way of reaching out in evangelism.

Insight into Fear

(Pro 13:13 KJV)  Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded.

Once again, I felt like Moffett had a good insight.  He takes the second part of the verse and put a little bit different spin on it.

    “To stand in awe of God’s command is safety.”

His choice of vocabulary is totally acceptable and yet it brings a totally different view of what is being said. “Awe” , is a perfectly acceptable synonym for fear. In the same way the idea of safety instead of being rewarded is also a good idea.

So? It pays to follow God’s standards.

A Spark in the Lament

(Job 19:25 KJV)  For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:

(Proverbs 12 also read)

This chapter in Job is one long lament and complaint.  Repeatedly he says that God has abandoned him.  There is not a drop of joy or praise.  In spite of that we find this very familiar verse sandwiched in the middle.  It is a statement of one of the great truths.  It reflects the very name of Yahweh.  He is the great I Am.  He is the one God who lives.

That makes a difference in everything that goes on.  He’s not an empty idol.  He is not a vain wish.  He is the living God.

So?  We need to live as if we believe this.  I don’t know if your day is good or bad.  I don’t know if you are rejoicing or mourning.  But God lives.  God listens.  God loves.  Love Him back.

Interesting Interpretation

(Pro 11:16 KJV)  A gracious woman retaineth honour: and strong men retain riches.

This verse has been a head scratcher for me.  It just didn’t seem to fit together.  As I have said, I am reading Moffatt’s translation this month, and he has an interesting way of parsing it.

    “A charming woman wins respect: high-handed men win only wealth.”

The first half is fairly literal, but the second half gives a spin which I find interesting.  It is a good interpretation that makes it work together.  It is a matter of priorities and values.  Honor is higher than riches.

So? Go for the best don’t settle for the least. 

A Place to Start

(Gen 1:3 KJV)  And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

As I was thinking about the attributes of God, I thought of the statement "God is light”.  That brought to mind the beginning of Genesis and the creation, and the opening words of God.  He who is light started by inserting light into the universe.  He was creating.

We think of light as being the bright thing that keeps us from stubbing our toes as we walk through the house at night.  We think of flashlights and headlights.  But the light here is more in the sense of illuminating truth, illuminating justice, and illuminating all those other important issues.  It talks about a character of God in which He rejects darkness and evil.

So?  Rejoice that we worship a god of light. 

O Be Careful Little Eyes What You See

(Gen 1:1 KJV)  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

This month I am reading Proverbs in the Moffatt Translation.  As my mind wandered I got to thinking about the creation account and the question of literal vs figurative.  I thought I would take a look at how Moffatt started his work.  It was interesting because he starts off with what he claims is Genesis 2:4, “This is the story of how the universe was formed.”  I am not sure what rule of translation allows you to move verses around at your convenience but that is what he did.

That was one issue but the second act was to take an ax to the root of creation.  

(Gen 1:1 Moffatt) When God began to form the universe, the world was void and vacant,...

A verse like this is to be read with discernment.  It tells you a lot about whether you can trust the basic assumptions of the translator.  According to Moffatt’s translation the universe was already in existence when God began to work.  Troubling.

So?  Don’t ever turn off your mind, even when you are reading a “Bible”.  I guess I would say, especially when you are reading a “Bible.” 

Disgusting

(Pro 8:7 KJV)  For my mouth shall speak truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

Sometimes a different translation gives you a slightly different view of things.  This month, as I have said, I am reading in Moffatt’s translation.  The word “abomination” (8441) is very common in the Old Testament.  It tries to give us an insight for how evil God feels certain things are.  Moffatt uses the word “loath” instead of abomination.  I like that.

The idea of loathing something comes up with an attitude of disgust that I think we miss with abomination.  Abomination seems to be a higher concept than we would deal with regularly.  It is out of touch with our every day lives.  Loathing is something we can understand.  We can apply it to people we know.  We can apply it to things like liver and onions.  There are many disgusting things that we can tie to it.  We are to loath evil.

So? It’s pretty simple.  If it’s disgusting turn away. 

Perfect Fear

(Psa 101:2 KJV)  I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.

The KJV uses the term perfect twice in this verse.  It uses it again later in the chapter.  In every place the New American Standard chooses a different word.  In the Hebrew all three are related going back to the same root and expressing the same idea.  We have in modern times a fear of this word “perfect”.  We avoid it when we speak in terms of theology.  We don’t mind talking about a perfect steak, but we shudder when we quote the Bible talking about perfect love.

I would suggest that instead of avoiding biblical concepts, we look a little bit deeper and try to find out what they are talking about.  It is obvious that in this case, whatever perfect means it is attainable.

So?  Work on that part of your life which is supposed to be perfect and accept the fact that David was at least as smart as you are and knew that in a very real sense perfection was impossible.  He still talked about it.  Join him.  Go for it.

New Names

(Pro 1:7 KJV)  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

I am reading this month in the James Moffatt translation.  One of the quirks I noticed at the very beginning was that he chose a unique word for the personal name of God, Yahweh.  In the NASB and KJV it is designated by all capitals, LORD.  I noticed that one of the current translations, the Legacy Standard Bible, transliterates it as Yahweh.  I like that.  Moffatt has chosen to translate it “the Eternal”.  I think that is acceptable.  It misses the personal aspect that the Hebrew conveys but it works as long as you are paying attention.

So?  When you are bored, consider what it means to be eternal. 

Patience

(Psa 95:10 KJV)  Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:

As I continue to think about patience, God speaks to me.  He reminds me of why the generation was wandering in the wilderness for 40 years.  They were wandering in the wilderness because they were afraid to go into the promised land.  They were worried.  They were not willing to trust.  As a result, they wandered.

As I look at the news and listen to what’s happening in the world, I see evil on a rampage.  I see death and destruction everywhere.  I see government forces out to destroy the people of the country.  I wonder when they’re coming for me.  At that point God slaps me upside the head and says “When have I ever let you down?”

So?  God continues to be patient with me.  I need to trust in him.  The future is in his hands just as the past was in his hands. 

Moving

(Psa 93:1 KJV)  The LORD reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved.

(Proverbs 4 also read)

This is a good illustration of what it means to be either literal or figurative.  Notice the last word “moved” (4131).  Just what does that mean?  It would seem obvious but not if you think about it.

If you look at this literally, then it means that the Earth is stationary in space.  It does not move at all.  That would rule out rotation and revolution.  It would insist on the universe revolving around the Earth instead of the Earth moving through space.  We know that is not the case.

It is not hard to consider that this means that the Earth is stable and is not going to be jerked around by every little dictator that walks down the aisle.  With what we know about science now, the literal interpretation is nonsense and the figure of speech is powerful.

So?  Read the Bible as it was intended to be read.  Don’t be afraid to change your understanding as your knowledge of the world increases.  God will not be threatened by a deeper understanding of the universe He created. 

Coup

Proverbs 3:25 (KJV) Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh.

We live in a time of uncertainty.  Many are afraid of what is happening politically and how our republic is falling apart.  All of that may be true, but we need to be reminded that our confidence and our trust is not in the government or even the constitution, but in our God.

I like the use of the word “desolation” in the King James Bible.  Really, it is what we are afraid of.  We worry about the unknown desolation that may descend upon our country if things fall apart.  Fear not, it won’t be the first time.  Israel has gone through this many times.  The people of God have gone through this many times.

We are still here.

This may not be a guarantee of your safety.  It may not mean that your bank account survives.  But it does assure you that God has you in His hand.

So?  Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus.

Second or Third Person

(Psa 91:2 KJV)  I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

(Proverbs 2 also read)

This is an interesting place to compare the King James Bible to the New American Standard Bible.  If you have a King James, you will notice that the words “he is” is not in the original language because it is shown in italics.  When you compare the New American Standard, you find that it is written in second person, as if the author is speaking to God.  The King James is third person where he is speaking about God.

While this difference does not reflect anything about the nature of God, it does make it more personal when you were directly addressing Him rather than talking about Him.  One is a praise, one is a witness.

So?  Rejoice in the flexibility of the Scriptures.  Think about what it says.  Think about the possible application and enjoy the different rabbit trail that leads you down. 

Numbering

(Psa 90:12 KJV)  So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

What does it mean to “number our days?  I don’t think it just means counting how many days we have until the weekend.  I don’t think it means to sit around wondering how old we’re going to be before we die.  I don’t think it has to do with counting in any way.

I think it may have more to do with putting things in order such as numbering our tasks for the day.  I think there’s also the idea of setting priorities.  What is the first thing I will do today?  What is the last thing I will do today?

Setting our priorities may be one of the most important things we do in a day.

So?  What does God have for me today?  Where will I invest my energy?  There are only so many hours in my day.  There are only so many days in my life.  I need to use them wisely.