We’re several days into another new year — 2026. This year, I will be turning 60 years old. I will have been married 37 years and been a dad for 34 years. Every new year, birthday, anniversary, holiday and milestone is a reminder that we’re all time-travelers, steadily moving forward in time.

In Psalm 90:12, Moses prays, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Moses isn’t saying to count the number of days we might have left. Anyone can do that. In fact, just a couple of verses before, he says, “Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures.”

Nor do I think he’s saying to remind ourselves of our mortality and fragility. Knowing we only have 70-80 years naturally reminds us that our time on earth is short.

Moses asks God to ”teach us” to number our days. In other words, there is a particular way of viewing our lives that is a revelation from God and not from our own wisdom. And this revelation produces a heart of wisdom, or the skill to live well.

I believe St Paul was very acquainted with this Psalm and prayed for God’s revelation. And while he doesn’t state he received direct revelation about Psalm 90:12, I believe God taught him how to “number his days” so that it produced genuine skill for living. And I believe he shares this revelation and wisdom in Ephesians 5:15-16: 

“Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.”

Many modern translations interpret the Greek “exagorazomenoi ton kairon” as “making the most of every opportunity”. I think this may miss the nuance of the phrase. Paul states that the days are evil. So I believe the King James Version provides a better translation, “redeeming the time.” Because the days are evil by default, we are to redeem, rescue, or buy back moments from evil and for good. So, whatever translation we might use, the divine revelation of Psalm 90:12 through Paul is to transform specific moments of our days for good because by default, they naturally drift toward evil. And we do this by carefully and diligently living as wise people.

Throughout his writings, Paul gives many example of how to live skillfully and wisely. And we find a perfect example a few verses above in Ephesians 5:8-10:

“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord.”

We are to live as children of light, who bear the fruit of light — goodness, righteousness, and truth — in the moments of our day.

So what does this mean from a practical perspective? First, I would talk with Jesus about specific moments in your life that can be redeemed from evil and for good. For example, how do you spend your time driving to work? Are you listening to the news, talk radio, or a podcast? Or are you worrying about specific details of your life? That’s a perfect opportunity to buy back that time for goodness, righteousness and truth.

As you drive to work, perhaps you can meditate on a passage of Scripture. Or you could slowly pray through the Lord’s Prayer or Psalm 23. Or you could pray a short blessing on people you pass who are out jogging or walking. Or you can pray for your co-workers.

We are to live as children of light and rescue specific moments of time from evil’s grasp by overlapping the regular moments of our day with the pursuit of goodness, righteousness, and truth, along with whatever is noble, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy (Phil 4:8). It’s not about adding more things to do in your busy schedule, but transforming what you’re already doing into moments of goodness with God. This is the way toward numbering our days and toward a heart of skillful wisdom.