“THE VERY HAIRS OF YOUR HEAD ARE NUMBERED”

“THE VERY HAIRS OF YOUR HEAD ARE NUMBERED”

“Not one sparrow falls to the ground 

without your Father. But the very hairs 

of your head are all numbered” (Mat.10: 29-30).

      From God comes every drop of rain, every snow flake, every bird, and every man, in fact there are no exclusions, for God created and governs everything that He has formed, therefore nothing is accidental or incidental. Not only is each hair of our head numbered but also there is the number of the days of our souls on the earth! Just as God appointed the day of our birth, so He establishes the day of our departure to the next world. No one can increase or decrease the days which God has set for our souls in this present life.

     Therefore there is no reason to be concerned that we may depart from this life before God’s appointed time, nor can we  by any means add even a single day to our lives. For the Lord will decide the day when we will leave this world and go to our final destination.

     We are given a number of days in this temporary life and these days are not given us only for the pursuit of enjoying pleasure until we die, lacking any purpose or goal; this is the thinking of unbelievers.  God created everything and told us what was for a specific the purpose to us, which is to obey His commandments and strive to become God’s image and likeness.  Christ is our Savior, our Teacher and our Guide and He is the perfect example of what we must struggle to become. He is the Godman, and He wills that all of us become man-gods. This is the purpose of this life to work with God for our salvation in His Church always keeping the goal of our lives before us. Moreover, as we accomplish our personal goals we must also do all we can to bring many others into the true Church wherein they will acquire eternal life. 

When we see the rain or snow falling we can see the perfect providence of God, who controls everything that exists and has a purpose for their existence.  That perfect providence is what every hair is numbered implies, for God is uncreated and all of creation is entirely His design governed by His providence.

     Man sees much of what happens yet remains ignorant of why, and many show no interest in He who created all. Why are we able to see so much and yet understand so little, for the rain drops, the snow and ice, the bright sun and the moon and stars are before our eyes, but there is so much more that our eyes are not able to see. We talk, we walk, we drive, we sail and we fly, but this is but a very small fraction, for we cannot see or grasp all that exists. But as God does not ignore us we certainly should not ignore God, for to do so is the greatest of insults and will result in eternal punishment.

     We know that God does not ignore us for  “the very hairs of our head are numbered”, we should not think that God ever fails to hear us when we pray to Him for even if we exchange thoughts with another person God hears the thoughts of both for nothing can escape the all-knowing Mind. Every word spoken to God by us is always received and welcomed! It delights God when we seek to know Him and follow His commandments. For this reason the prophets, patriarchs, apostles and the Theotokos who loved and obeyed Him also share in His glory.

     A little sparrow falls to the ground but not without the heavenly Father who controls all life and death.  We know so little about the Lord, but He taught us much by His revelations. He spoke through the prophet concerning the hairs on our heads, but He also says of himself:  “I am the way and the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father but through me.” Jesus is the only way in heaven or on earth, He is also the only truth and the author of all life, for He is God the Eternal Logos equal to the Father and the Spirit. Jesus, who dwelled among us is the only Truth who came down from heaven and dwells within us, continually nourishing us and He gives Himself to the faithful as food and drink. He is the source of all life and the only Giver of life. The phrase: the very hairs of your head are numbered, is an indication of the great concern that God has for each and every one of us, for the soul and spirit within us are most precious and blessed and destined to be with God forever! To respond is our greatest responsibility for response will determine our eternal life or eternal punishment. God shows His concern and it is up to arouse our interest and to turn to God in repentance and compunction seeking forgiveness for our sins with the hope of everlasting life.