Short & Sweet: Living by the Numbers

Facebook. Twitter. Snapchat. It’s all about the numbers. How do you rank?

1 Now Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel. 2 So David said to Joab and to the leaders of the people, “Go, number Israel from Beersheba to Dan, and bring the number of them to me that I may know it.”… 7 And God was displeased with this thing; therefore He struck Israel. 8 So David said to God, “I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing; but now, I pray, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly.”

1 Chronicles 21: 1-2, 7-8

David was stressing about the numbers.

Were they big enough, strong enough, tough enough to stand against their enemies? David was listening to the enemy. Ironic isn’t it? The Enemy tempts us to worry about our enemies. Eyes off God. Eyes on our enemies. Fixating on the numbers causes big trouble.

In David’s case—death.

In our case, death of our peace, health and at times even our witness.

I have been there with David.

Placing my worth, my value, my success, my strength on the numbers—the likes on my memes, the hits on my posts or the views on Youtube. Like us on Facebook, follow us on twitter, snap, tweet, post, hangout, Skype, join our tribe, brand it. YOLO baby. It’s all about the numbers!

Why doesn’t God want us to focus on numbers? Because with God numbers don’t matter. You, plus God is a majority no matter the opposition. It’s David against the Philistines. Gideon vs. the Midianites. Elijah in a throw-down with the Prophets of Baal.

Life by the numbers.

If we focus on the numbers, we are like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the winds of popularity. When our numbers are high, we are riding a wave of happiness. When they are low, we are in the deep.

With Jesus success is not based on numbers—it’s based on obedience.

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The need to constantly count numbers indicates a lack of faith. It is walking by sight and not by faith. We make decisions based on manpower and God is left out of the equation. No miracles. No glory.

Numbering keeps us wandering.

Satan wants us to focus on and measure our success by the numbers. If we are obsessed by who’s following us, we will no longer be concerned about Who we’re following. Our eyes are off God and on the people, what’s trending, and the hottest viral video. The ring of a notification eclipses the Still Small Voice. But, it’s not about followers it’s about following.

With God, only one number matters: ONE

The One and only Living God.

The One True God.

The Holy One.

We can all count to ONE.

Action Points:

Unplug. Turn off the media. For one day let Facebook and Snapchat go on without you.
Obey. Pray and ask God what HE wants you to do about a situation you’re facing. Don’t check what’s trending, what’s popular or going viral. Do what God says.
Be. Be yourself. Be free. Be who God created you to be (Note: this will never go against His word).

Life is sweet.