http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/
So today, just for laughs, I setup a Chromecast device, and on a whim, I threw up a random web page I found 'World Population'. I left it running on the tv in the background just because I wanted to be goofy.
But then something hit me. Obviously this web page can't be checking the world population registries real time, but it is doing some sort of estimating based on measurements taken, the end result is on this screen you're seeing numbers moving around all the time.
Including the number under Death's Today.
My first reaction to this was 'wow, a LOT of people are being born and dying!' and then, the novel curiosity of it all was sucked from me and left a cold chill in my bones.
There are a lot of people dying every day. God doesn't need a ticker like this, He knows the count, intimately. But He knows the REAL numbers. the REAL deaths. People who don't join Him in Paradise once they've fallen asleep in this world.
God doesn't want anyone to die that death. And here I am, watching the numbers fly by. How many souls have left this earth without knowing Christ? There is so much work to be done out there, so many people to disciple, so many who haven't heard about Christ, or who have yet to believe in His gift of salvation.
Sorry to bum you out today, not exactly a cheery message. Each second that death count goes up. My heart hurts for the lost, and the gone. Each time there's a birth I think 'another chance, another hope, another potential, someone Christ loves.' Each time there is a death I think 'did they know you Lord? Did they get their chance? Did they hear?'
And then I look at how fast the world population is growing and I wonder... how on earth are we going to reach everyone in time? If you view the world as a mission field, there is such a herculean effort in front of us, that I can only encourage myself with this little reminder:
The way you eat an elephant, is one bite at a time.
Days like today though, make me want to eat faster.... a lot faster.
We need to get Bibles into the hands of people in their heart language. We need to be making disciples of people. We need to not only see that people come to a saving faith in Christ but also that they in turn have a burden for others and reach out to them. We need to be multiplying the Disciples of God, because the world population is changing too rapidly to keep up if we don't.
