Twenty-Five Thousand Days

In looking at the length of life, the Psalmist said: ‘the days of our years are threescore years and ten; … Thou carriest them away as with a flood; … so teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” And so, for a moment or two, let’s break down this scriptural allotment of life into a few startling figures:

Seventy years times three hundred sixty-five means that this allotted length of mortal life is about twenty-five thousand days. Of course, we may live longer. And then again, we may not live this long. But let’s assume that when we breathed our first breath, each of us had twenty-five thousand days to live in mortal life.

When we are young, it may look like a long time. But remember, we have already used up three hundred sixty-five days for every year we have lived. If we’re sixteen, we have used about six thousand days. If we are thirty, we have used nearly eleven thousand. If we’re forty, we have used almost fifteen thousand. When we look at life with this formula of figures, it doesn’t look like very long, and if we spend it on one thing, we can’t spend it on another. If we should spend one day each with twenty-five thousand different people, we would have spent all of this allotment of life.

Some of these days are for rest, some for work, some for worship. Some belong to our friends and family—surely a fair part to family. Some of these days will be filled with success and satisfaction, and some with waste and some with waiting. Some will be lived in sunlight, and some in sorrow and shadow.

Surely the subject suggests starting early to learn what we have to learn and to do what we have to do. And surely it suggests carefully considering our pleasures and pastimes and every purpose we pursue.

Twenty-five thousand days—minus what we have already spent, minus more if we don’t live that long, plus a few more if we live a little longer—but there comes a time in the life of every person to arrive at the realization that the days are far spent. “Thou carriest them away as with a flood ….So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom” and fill them only with the finest things.