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“Lord, let me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is” (Psalm 39:4).
The Psalmist does not want us to take time for granted. Their prayer asks God to remind that them that their time on earth is short, especially in comparison to God’s perception of time.
The tough reality is that we do not have unending amounts of time. We can ask ourselves: How do we want to use our time on earth? How can we be more intentional with our time?
This is not to shame us into productivity culture. We are not created to be productive all of the time; God gifted us Sabbath rest for a reason. Working and producing 24/7 will only burn us out and make us sick.
Instead, being intentional with our time means balancing work, play, rest, and God time (prayer, devotions, worship, etc.). It’s about being aware of how we are using our time, and using our time deliberately. May God also remind us that our time on earth is finite, so that we can be intentional with it!
This message is excerpted from “How we use our time” by Becca Ehrlich from the February 25, 2025, blog of the Women of the ELCA.