You Count

My four-year-old granddaughter can count to 10 in both English and Spanish. Numbers are important to her.

When you step onto the bathroom scale, numbers are important to you. They're important when you examine your paycheck, and when you sign a mortgage agreement with the bank. When you drive past a police car with its radar unit set up, numbers are important to you.

Jesus told about a shepherd who had 100 sheep. How did the shepherd know one sheep was missing if he didn't count them? When Jesus rose from the dead, more than 500 people saw him alive at the same time—an impressive number of eyewitnesses. Three thousand people were baptized on the Day of Pentecost, and afterward "the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved" (Acts 2:47).

Someone said, "A book called Numbers sounds about as exciting as one called Phonebook or Dictionary," but I'm glad there's a book of Numbers in the Bible because it reminds me that people count. The book tells about two censuses of the Israelite people—one at Sinai and the other on the brink of the promised land 39 years later. The Israelites counted 603,550 men over age 20 qualified to serve in the army (Numbers 1:46), and every person mattered.

Every soul always has been important to God. You aren't just a faceless blip on God's computer screen. The Father knows you by name and cares about the details of your life. "Even the very hairs of your head are all numbered" (Matthew 10:30).

Your faith counts. When the 12 spies came back from investigating the land of Canaan, some had grapes and the rest had gripes. The majority cowered in fear and whined, "we seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes" in comparison with the powerful Canaanites. Joshua and Caleb, however, trusted God and said, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it" (Numbers 13:30-33). Every day we have to decide whether we'll live by faith or by fear. God's people wandered in the wilderness for 40 years because they failed to believe.

Your suffering counts. When venomous snakes bit the Israelites, God provided a unique means of healing. He told Moses to make a bronze serpent and put it up on a pole. "Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived" (Numbers 21:9). Forecasting his own crucifixion, Jesus said, "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life" (John 3:14, 15). On this side of the cross we understand that our sorrows are light and momentary in comparison with the healing and forgiveness we find in Christ.

Your journey counts. Numbers 33:1 says, "Here are the stages of the journey of the Israelites." Despite the rebelliousness of his people, God carefully watched over every stage of their journey. For 40 years he guided them, even when their path appeared to wind aimlessly through the desert. He had a goal in mind even when it was hard for them to see it.

Your destination counts. When their wandering days were over, the Israelites camped beside the Jordan River with the land of milk and honey stretching out before them. When our days of wandering finally end, we will enter the promised land of God and enjoy blessings—too numerous to count.