Repeating the lesson

Teach us how short our lives are so that we can become wise. (Psalm 90:12)

You might not think this verse has much to do with making a new start in a new year, but I'd like us to read it again a few times just to grasp the full meaning of what the psalmist was asking. He asks God to 'teach him', but not with aimless education. He wants to really be aware just how limited his time on this earth may be - then he wants God to help him make the very best use of that time. There are thousands of timewasters in this world today - we barely have to look further than the TV or our cell phones to realize just how much 'wasted time' we can rack up without even fully being aware. The thing he prays for is 'awareness'. The purpose of this awareness is revelation - to get to know what is really important for him to know and forget about all the other stuff that really is just 'clutter' in his mind. Maybe that would be a good prayer for each of us this year - to become 'aware' and to make the most out of the knowledge we are given.

Awareness is more than just being in the 'know' about something. Yes, it means we are to be attentive to what God teaches, but it also means we use the information in such a way that it gets into our 'consciousness' and begins to affect how we make choices in life. The end goal is wisdom - the means to gaining wisdom is to sit long enough at the feet of our TEACHER in order to really come into full understanding of what is being taught. Life is short, the lessons can be long, and the learning can take a while. Maybe that means we 'repeat' a few from time to time because we don't get all the learning done in one sitting! I used to think that if God had to take me through a lesson again, I didn't get anything from it the first time. What I have come to realize is that repeated lessons don't always indicate I didn't learn from the other times God was taking me through, but rather that he is adding to the lesson now that I understood the first or second elements he taught previously. 

Teach us how short our lives are so we can become wise. Wisdom is a 'becoming' thing - it isn't instantaneous. We see one little tidbit of truth this time, then the next time that lesson comes around, we see another. Each helps us to grow a little. Remember, growth is a rather slow process and most of the growth is really happening 'under the surface'. What becomes evident a little later on is how much that growth has changed us - both inside and out! Just sayin!