I have been in Pastoral ministry since 1983. You do the math. My wife and family and I, have planted churches and happily served God’s people, in order to build the Kingdom. Through these years and various ministry assignments, we have had the privilege of seeing hundreds and thousands of people come to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. And every single person matters. I have to admit, that at times, I have been more interested in how many attended church, than how many people accepted Christ. I haven’t intentionally done this. But my actions have proven that it is true. Recently, in an effort to put more focus on the number of people making decisions to follow Christ, rather than the number of people who are attending services each weekend, we put a large chalk wall in the front corner of the church with the words displayed across the top, “I Have Decided.” At the end of each of our four services this past weekend, I invited the people who decided to follow Christ, to come and write their name on the wall. Last Sunday, we had 21 people make a decision to follow Christ. Now that’s a number worth counting.
The Bible says, in Luke 15:10, “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
If heaven is rejoicing when one sinner repents, we should be rejoicing as well.
The word of the day is, a number worth counting. Are you counting what really matters?