Am I Wasting My Life?

Moses wrote the oldest psalm in the book while watching an entire generation die in the wilderness — funeral after funeral, year after year. Instead of bitterness, he wrote: ‘Teach us to number our days.’ Not to depress us, but to give us a heart of wisdom. When you forget life is short, you treat it like it’s unlimited. You waste energy on things that don’t matter. But when you remember, something shifts — you become intentional.

Paul wrote from prison using the Greek word ‘exagorazō’ — a marketplace word meaning to buy something back, to rescue it. It’s the same word used for Christ redeeming us. Paul says your time is in a market with things competing to buy it, own it, consume it. Wise people go into that market and buy their time back. He uses ‘kairos’ — a season, an appointed moment — not ‘chronos’ (clock time). The window of your marriage, your kids at home, your current opportunity is open right now — and it will not stay open.

In the parable of the talents, a single talent was worth $4.5M in today’s economy. The servant who received one was handed a life-changing amount — and he buried it. Not out of evil, but out of fear. He was safe, passive, cautious. And Jesus called that wasted. God is not just asking what you did with your time — He is asking what you did with what He gave you. Your gifts, relationships, story, platform, faith, kids, neighborhood. You are depositing something into the people around you every single day. The question is: is it intentional or accidental?