Age is More Than a Number

“Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”  Psalm 90:12 NIV

Moses, the man of God, wrote those words—and he knew something about time. He was 80 when he led the Exodus and lived to 120. He brought tablets and numbers—literally. The man was ahead of his time.

In a couple of days, I’ll turn 70 years young. I’ve seen what 100 looks like these days—no thanks.

I remember a cold winter night in Swormville, New York, sometime in the mid-60s. My best friend Bob and I had just finished sledding. We collapsed on a snowbank, staring up at the stars, discussing the far-off future. What would life be like at 60? Or 70? 2025 felt like a science fiction novel. But here we are. And while we never got our Jetsons flying cars, the world has gone far beyond anything we imagined.

(For the record, Bob still uses a flip phone. No email. No internet. 😀)

Mark Twain once quipped, “Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”

I took Moses seriously a few years ago and started numbering my days. I picked a future age and began a countdown. If you’re reading this on the day it’s published, I’ve got 2,635 days to go. That won’t get me to 80, but it’s around the age my father-in-law “graduated.” When I started the practice, my countdown was over 11,000 days. So far, so good.

Some say age is just a number. But God believes numbers matter.

There’s a whole book of the Bible called Numbers. And some numbers carry symbolic weight in Scripture—pregnant with meaning:

3 — Divine perfection. Think of the Trinity and how many things happen “on the third day.”
7 — Completion and rest. Creation, Sabbath, Revelation.
12 — Organization of God’s people. Tribes, apostles, government.
40 — Testing and transition. Rain, wilderness, temptation.

But it’s not just those holy numbers. We all have digits that define our days:
Birthdays. Death anniversaries. Wedding dates. Retirement clocks. Mortgage balances. Social Security numbers. GPAs and blood pressure. 401(k)s and 1040s. Numbers are the footnotes of our lives.

1955 is one of mine. The year I showed up.

And ever since I began counting down my days, it’s felt like sand slipping through an hourglass—each grain a gift. It’s helped me nurture a heart of wisdom and gratitude. One more sunrise. One more laugh. One more chance to run the play.

So no, age is not “just” a number.

“Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.”

Psalm 90:10 NIV

💬 Finding Our Place in the Story

What number holds deep meaning in your story—and why?
(A year, an age, a date, a milestone… what memories, decisions, or emotions are tied to it?)

If you numbered your remaining days, how might that change how you live today?
(Would it shift your priorities, relationships, gratitude, or purpose?)

Which numbers are you letting define your worth, and which ones should you surrender to God?
(Think: age, income, followers, failures. What if wisdom mattered more than any of them?)