So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Ps. 90:12.

One of the great questions of life is concerned with the race against the calendar and the passing years. The year comes to a close, and it has passed like a breeze.

A young man once said to me after deciding against Christ in favor of the world, "Look, I have lots of time. I want my fill of the world and its pleasures. I will think about being a Christian later in life." But it is not that simple. This habit of not making up our minds is disastrous. We may not make up our minds, but we cannot stop making up our lives. Not to decide is to decide. Every time we make a decision our life is made up one way or another.

We are creatures of time. We cannot call the years back and begin over again. We can turn the clock back, but not our birthdays. What looks like plenty of time is only an illusion. There is only one time for crucial decisions: Now. Recently a newspaper employed a young reporter. Before long he received his first big assignment to write a news story of prime importance. The young man could hardly write fast enough, he was so excited. The editor, seeing his concern, came over to him and said: "take your time, son, you still have two minutes." Now is the day of salvation. Take your time, son, you still have two minutes.

The pressing question remains as to how best we may number our days and our decisions. Only as we experience divine forgiveness and cleansing of the sin that destroys the soul; only as we experience the working in us of His might, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit; only as Christ pilots our lives into the years beyond, in fellowship with Him who is our constant refuge and delight, lies the secret of life.

The idea that survival is all that counts—enough food to live on, a little plot of land far away from the agonies of men, and a running stream—is unrealistic. That kind of role for Adventists is played out. Jesus Christ is directing our world and our lives. Our job is to keep in step with Him with all the time we have.