Counting

As children grow up, those watching them note several stages in their lives. Many relate to counting - their teeth, their words, their steps, and then when they can count to ten - or whatever target is chosen.

Some cultures are not interested in counting beyond 2 or 3, while others have developed astonishing ways of doing mental arithmetic, which make computers appear redundant.

The Bible is interested in numbers, often as a mean of telling us something about God. 'He is the Lord our God. His justice is seen throughout the land.
⁸ He always stands by his covenant— the commitment he made to a thousand generations.' (Psalm 105.7-8) Of course, the 'thousand generations' is a rhetorical device to indicate God's faithfulness. We shouldn't take some of these numbers at face value!

But our culture is obsessed with counting. The Guinness Book of Records tells us the biggest, heaviest, fastest, most expensive of everything. And we have all been deceived into thinking that quantity is the same as quality. We seem to believe that if we can count it, that makes it valuable. Jesus told three stories in Luke chapter 15, about lost things. There was one sheep out of a hundred that was lost, one coin out of 10 that was lost, and two sons who were both lost, but in different ways. Their lostness cannot be measured by the percentage of lost sheep, coins or sons in the stories.

Nonetheless, we miss out when we fail to count our blessings, or count our days. 

The Bible is full of reminders about our need to recall the blessings we have received. I have often been encouraged in my life of faith, as I have read Psalm 103. This is how one translation starts.

Let all that I am praise the Lord;
    with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.
² Let all that I am praise the Lord;
    may I never forget the good things he does for me.
³ He forgives all my sins
    and heals all my diseases.
⁴ He redeems me from death
    and crowns me with love and tender mercies.
⁵ He fills my life with good things.
    My youth is renewed like the eagle’s! (Psalm 103.1-5)

It would be interesting to hear from other people what their favourite Bible verses are, which encourage them to count their blessings.

Happy counting,

Richard