When I was in elementary school, I was really, really good at Math. Since that time, the gift has passed but somehow, everyday, I think about some kind of arithmetic.

I keep track of: my mileage, bonus points, discounts, tips, pay, timecards, sheep, etc. These things constantly go through my mind and I’m sure you can add your laundry list worth of figures too. The point is, as much as I hate math now, everyday I’m forced to think in terms of numbers and calculations. The world around me demands it and most of the things mentioned are pretty important to keep numeric tabs on.

Then there are things that I wish I didn’t count. Some being: time spent in prayer, minutes wasted on trivial things, hours used in ways that don’t expand the kingdom of Christ on Earth and in Heaven, wrongs that others have done, days spent alone in sin with no confession, years trashed with false religion…a lifetime that didn’t glorify God alone.

“If I add, if I subtract, if I give it all, try to take some back,

I’ve forgotten the freedom that comes from the fact, that You are the Sum…”

As the song, Arithmetic, suggests, I can get so caught up in my calculations that Gaol, God who redeems, is somehow lost in the math. Walking with Him is counted in steps instead of encounters, my life is counted in failures and successes instead of steadfastness, and my worship is given in minutes and seconds instead of a lifetime of the Holy Spirit’s power…I want to leave behind the thinking that suggests that somehow by a push or a tug, I can somehow change my sinful situation. I want to rest in the salvation of Christ, in Jesus alone. No, not me too, never me – I can’t somehow subtract sin, and add good things and divide the consequences and multiply the blessing … only Christ can perfectly hold all my short-comings and strengths and sufficiently apply His full grace to my state. May we cling to His salvation, that he won, not ours…