How Are You Counted?

How Are You Counted?

“Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.””

‭‭Luke‬ ‭21:36‬

We live in a world that is constantly evaluating quantity. Whether it is financial, personal, material, emotional or physical - quantity matters, to some. 

People place an emphasis on how much money they have. And when they get more, they spend more. We work tirelessly to gain physical strength and overcome emotional deficit so that we fit-in with society’s standards. We buy more, eat more, sleep more and want more. Not all of these things are bad - but most of them are. 

I must admit, I don’t need most of the things I have. I could live without the things I live with, because most of them are for comfort. We all could. I wonder where the phrase, “the more the merrier” came from. Honestly, sometimes, “less is more”.

As for society, we are all placed into categories. We are all counted and accounted for.  We love to be counted. We love to be recognized.

Look at our census. We are counted for how much we have, where we live, how much we can spend, how many children we have and how many people live in our homes.  

Everything has a value. People, animals and even trees. We need water and food and air. 

We have been conditioned to place a value on everything. We have been trained to constantly evaluate and count everything.  And not only do we valuate everything around us, we constantly monitor our self-worth. 

We look at how crowded a parking lot is.  How much money someone has. How big someone’s house is. How many cars they have. You get the point. We are enamored by quantities and amounts. 

When have we evaluated our worthiness when it comes to our Christianity?  Are we worthy Christian’s?  I mean, everything has a worth and a value according to our personal standards. So, where does our Christian worthiness come from?

It comes from God. 

As Christian’s, we will all stand before Him and give our accounts. That’s right, you and I will have to testify as to the glory that God was given. We will have to account for our worthiness in loving our neighbors, glorifying God, helping others, following all of His commands and so much more.  And none of it will be centered around what the world gave us. Zero of it. 

So how do we get counted as worthy?

We pray. 

We are to pray always that we will be counted worthy. Why?  So when judgment comes for us, we will be counted as worthy.  And it will come for us.  We are His children and we are accountable for our behavior. 

This verse doesn’t say to pray sometimes. Not intermittently. Not sporadically. Not occasionally. Always. 

We should evaluate our conduct, our behavior and our actions on our worthiness according to God. Not ourselves. And we should pray for it always because that day will come, when He will return and we will join Him in Heaven.  We will stand before Him. 

These verses are a reminder to take our minds off of the things of this world and place them back where they belong. To set our minds on God. To put our thoughts on Him. And to be counted as worthy. Only then will we be worthy to escape the things that keep us from Him. 

Are you counted worthy?

““But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.””

‭‭Luke‬ ‭21:34-36‬