Deuteronomy 31:2  Then Moses went out and spoke these words to all Israel: 2 “I am now a hundred and twenty years old and I am no longer able to lead you. The LORD has said to me, ‘You shall not cross the Jordan.

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Sometimes it is hard to tell what time it is. My bride and I were away on vacation on time-change Sunday. This is a good time to not care what time it is. When we returned home, we changed the clocks to the current time. Since some of our clocks adjust themselves, this was a fairly simple feat. 

One clock did not get changed and we did not realize it until this morning. Her coffee pot did not begin its strategic work in the moments before our alarms alerted us to awaken. That clock was an hour behind. The first workday after a week of not requiring the services of an early alarm is not a good time for a clock to function out of sync with the others. 

After a few minutes of brew time, my bride was able to begin her day like last month’s groundhog – alertly and reluctantly. 

This chapter tells us Moses’ time was up. He lived as a prince of Egypt in the first third of his life. He lived the life of a fugitive shepherd for the second third. His third third was when he became all God intended for him to be as he delivered God’s people, as promised so long before, right up to the doorstep of the land flowing with milk and honey.

Now it was time to say goodbye. Now it was time to die. The Book of Deuteronomy is Moses’ Swan Song. In the words of Dick Motta, it was time for the fat lady to sing. It was the end of the road for Moses. 

What happened last? Moses commissioned Joshua. Way back in Numbers 27:12-23 and Deuteronomy 3:28, God told Moses to do this as his parting contribution. Deuteronomy 31:6-8 is powerful. Moses tells Joshua, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Verse 23 says God repeated this command. Joshua 1:9 repeats it again. Keep reading through the pages of the Bible and see that King David picks up on this idea in Psalm 23:4: “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for **you are with me**; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” (Emphasis added.)

What did Jesus say to his disciples as he commissioned them? “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age,” (Matthew 28:20). 

Chicago recorded a song years ago we still sing today. It asks a pertinent question: “Does anybody really know what time it is?” Moses, Joshua, David, and Jesus tell us it is always God o’clock. The Great I AM is the Ever-Present One. 

Moses tells us in Psalm 90, “Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures,” (verse 10). Verse 12 says, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”

What time is it for you? Regardless of your age, God is with you, you are never out of his care, and he has a purpose for your life. Finish well. Live every day as productively and effectively as the last day before you leave for vacation. Live every day on purpose. Join God in his work of restoration and redemption. (See Psalm 23:3 and Psalm 80.)

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I will trust God to keep my time as I join him confidently and securely in his work of restoration and redemption.

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Our Father, empower me to make the most of my time today. What are my best next steps? Show me the way I should go. Give me strength for the journey. Give me wisdom for the challenges. Give me grace for my failures and for those of others. Give me words of truth and life that I may say the right thing at the right time. Give me restraint that I may not say or do anything unhelpful or harmful. Amen.