Thought for the Day - Wednesday 21 October

‘Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. You turn people back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.” A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.’ (Psalm 90: 1-4, 10, 12) I think there comes a time when it finally dawns on us that we are not as young as we used to be. Tasks which used to be effortless somehow become more daunting without us even noticing at first even tasks as basic as opening a jar of jam or a tin of tuna! I don’t know about you either but lately I have developed aches and pains in places I never thought I could have an ache or a pain and instead of having lovely mobile joints somehow all the bones seem to be beginning to fuse together!! Well as they say old age does not come easy! Our future which seemed at one time to stretch out before us indefinitely suddenly seems all too short, with the dreams we hoped to fulfil seeming to have less time left in which to fulfil them! Another saying comes to mind – namely, tide and tide wait for no one! Now let’s not start to wallow in self-pity and get all maudlin though – let’s rather look to the words of our text this morning where the Psalmist turns our focus completely onto God who we are told has a nature in no way as fleeting as ours – ‘a thousand years in your sight are like a day’. So in relation to our faith, we are being told that the passage of time should not be seen as the years running out on us but rather that life is just moving on, taking us one more step along the unfolding journey of life we are on where there is always something more to be discovered and always new joys to be experienced. Naturally, we cannot help ourselves from sometimes remembering the past and what it used to be like for us with a tinge of regret. Also, we can, and will, still feel anxious about the future and what it holds for us. However, the Psalmist here is encouraging us to recognise that each day is a gift of God and that we should live each and every one of our days in that knowledge and in the knowledge that as Paul says in Romans 8, that there is ‘nothing in all creation that separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ Prayer Loving God, Everlasting in nature Lord, you have been our dwelling place in in all generations. Since the creation of the world, you have nurtured us with your love. Loving Lord, teach us to treasure each day, to love you more fully, for in loving you, our lives will show love to all others, just as your love encompasses all your creation, in all generations. We pray in the name of your greatest gift of love, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. Amen.