Then Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel. 1 Chronicles 21:1 NASB
Many look forward with great anticipation to the stroke of midnight, hoping that at 12:01am on January 1, 2021 there will be some miraculous changes. Our troubles will go away. Now some of you probably think that this is where I douse your hopes and tell you that things are not going to get better. But, that’s not exactly what I am saying here.
What I want you to understand is that the only thing you have the power to change is you and even then to be truly successful we need God’s help. The date on the calendar is not what matters. Where we place God in our lives is what matters. Those numbers that tell us date and time are not important. The number that tells us where God stands in our lives is what’s important. If God is not in the number one place in your life, then none of those other numbers will matter.
We are seeing a world crippled by a pandemic. Newsfeeds tell us that there is another strain of this virus headed our way. Our politicians like to look at the numbers. I am constantly hearing news reports talk about how many in our state has been infected with the virus and how many have been hospitalized and how many have been placed on a ventilator and how many have died. These numbers don’t mean anything to the countless numbers of family members who have lost loved ones. They are just numbers.
In today’s scripture passage Satan tempted David to take a census. Now the king ordering a census isn’t so bad, right? We know Caesar Augustus ordered the census that was part of God’s plan to get Joseph and Mary into Bethlehem so that prophecy could be fulfilled with Jesus being born there. It was not unusual for a king to take a census for purposes of taxation and military strengthening. The problem here is that Joab had advised David against it. Doing so demonstrated David’s reliance on numbers of warriors, rather than God. We see numerous times in the Bible that numbers don’t matter when it comes to military power. In the story of Gideon, Gideon started with 32,000 troops and God instructed him to bring the number of men down to 300 (Judges 7) and God gave them victory. When two vast armies came against Judah, Jehoshaphat cried out to the Lord and God caused the armies coming against them to destroy each other (2 Chronicles 20).
There are times when numbers do matter. In Joshua 6, God instructs Joshua and his men to march around the city of Jericho once a day for six days. But, he instructs them to march around the wall seven times on the seventh day and then blow their trumpets. Seven priests blew seven trumpets after completing their seventh march around the city on the seventh day and the great wall of Jericho came down.
Perhaps you have noticed a pattern here, these men who were victorious sought God. They trusted in Him and they obeyed Him (Proverbs 3:4-6). Gideon was skeptical at first, but continued to work with God and began to trust in Him. He obeyed God’s commands and did as he was told. Jehoshaphat cried out to God and prayed and fasted and suited up and went out to face this great army as God instructed and God brought him victory. And can you imagine Joshua’s situation? The city of Jericho is fortified by this huge wall. No one is coming in or going out. But, God tells him to have his men march around the city one time a day for six days and then seven times on the seventh day and the wall will just fall down and it did.
My friend when it comes to our lives here on earth there is only one number that matters and that is the number one place in your life. What’s there? Is it your job? Is it your friends? Is it social media? Is it a particular hobby? It doesn’t matter what it is. If it’s not God it’s not going to work. God demands that number one spot in our lives (Matthew 6:33).
If you really want 2021 to be a much better year, put God first. I truly believe if our nation would fall down on our knees and seek God with all their heart and turn from their sinful behavior that God would heal our nation (2 Chronicles 7:14). I believe we would see radical changes for the better. Unfortunately, we can’t control what the entire nation will do. We can only control what we do. As for me, I am going to seek the Lord. I am going to put my trust in Him. I am going to thank Him for the protection He has provided to me and my family in 2020 and pray that He continues to watch over us in 2021. I’m not Cinderella, so I don’t anticipate the stroke of midnight making any big changes. I am just going to trust in God in all that I do in the new year. I beg of you to join me.
Have a very Happy New Year!