Daily Manna · Day 241 · August 29
Names Written in Heaven
“Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.”
Most of us keep a score with God, even if we would never admit it. A word of thanks after a meeting, a prayer that seemed to be answered, a week when the work went well: each one adds a point. By Thursday, our whole sense of where we stand with God is riding on that score.
The seventy came back to Jesus full of joy. He had sent them out two by two, carrying "neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes," into every town He planned to visit Himself. Now they brought Him the best news they had: "Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name." Jesus takes their news seriously. He answers, "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven," and He gives them "power to tread on serpents and scorpions." Then, in the same breath, He moves their joy to a different place: "Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven." The power they had used was real. But a good week can be followed by a bad one, and the list kept in heaven does not go up and down with your results. Your name was written there by God's hand, not yours.
So ask yourself what your mood is really resting on this morning. Is it an outcome, a compliment, or a number on a screen? Then go and do the next ordinary task on your list, the one nobody will thank you for. Do it knowing that your name was already written in heaven before you got out of bed.
Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year two reading for day 241 is The Unmarked Grave (Deuteronomy 34:6).