Numbers 1:2 “Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names, every male by their polls;”
Do Numbers Matter?
Do you know what the temperature was this morning? Do you know how old you are? How many inches are in one foot? “Brother Wil,” you interject, “what do these questions have to do with anything?” Well, do numbers matter? Of course they do! You probably do not value what you do not count.
Let’s say (hypothetically, of course!) that you have a “chat” with a nice officer along the side of the road about your car’s speed. Two numbers matter: the number on the speed limit sign and the number to which your speedometer needle was pointing! Numbers are important!
You cannot steward what you have if you do not count what you have. The book of Numbers is all about numbers. God told Moses to take stock of the number of men able to go out to war. To properly fight in battle, you have to know the size of your army and the weapons at your disposal. There is no way to prepare if you do not number.
There is probably something each of us counts every day. You may count your steps, your bank account, your mutual funds, or the students in your class, but we all count something. You will number what is important and valuable to you.
So what numbers matter to you? What are you actually counting? You will count whatever you see as valuable. God cares about numbers because God cares about people. May He help us to be good stewards of what He has given to us!