Numbers 1:17-46 – Everyone playing a part makes a difference

Moses, together with the 12 men, each the head of 12 tribes of Israel minus the tribe of Levi, carried out the census. It took place on the first day of the second month in the second year after they had departed from Egypt. The whole company of people of Israel at this point easily tops two million people. Just imagine that out of the 70 or so who came to Egypt with Israel, had grown and become a nation. But the total number of fighting men 20 years and above named according to their tribes, clan by clan, was 603,550. What a massive force!

This number of 603,550 did not include those below the age of 20 - the infants, toddlers, and the teens. It also did not include the old, feeble, and sick. It certainly did not include the women. In these verses, we are given the breakdown of the figure of fighting men from each tribe. However, the number of military men each tribe had was a moot point. It would only be important if all of them were willing to do the job required of them.

Herein lies an important principle: effectiveness results only when everyone is willing to do their part in the work. Even if some of them should refuse to do their job, the work of the rest would be hampered. All of us whom God had enlisted into His redemptive force must do our part. When we do so, we will hasten the completion of the work God has assigned us. If we don’t, someone else has to stand in. And this would slow down the work and delay the completion.  

Another thing to remember is that none of us should think that our individual contribution is unimportant. Remember that the whole is the sum total of the parts. Everyone matters! Big things always begin small. A big door swings on small hinges. Every big thing begins with a seed. While we are destined for a great thing in God, yet it always starts with a small beginning. Zachariah 4:10 suggests that we should not despise the day of the small beginning. But each one must do his or her part. Nothing becomes great overnight. It always begins small. When everyone takes the first step and continues with the next and then the next, momentum will gather. All of us matter to the church. What each one of us contributes today will determine what will become of us as a whole tomorrow. Let us be the fighting force of Christ!