There are some 8.2 BILLION people on planet earth. And while it’s difficult to wrap our minds around that number – 8.2 billion – we might ask ourselves two sobering questions. First, “Who am I among so many?” And second, “Do I matter among so many?” Without a good understanding of Scripture, we can never truly know the definitive answer to those questions.

The point of the remark is that salvation is not to be assumed by any one as a matter of course, but is to be sought with earnest and persistent effort.16 We must fight17 if we would win; it is in its due application true of all, everywhere and always, that they must enter into the Kingdom of God through many tribulations (Acts 14:22).

The Lord’s nets, the preachers of the word, need mending too. Our mind grows jaded, and our spirit depressed, our heart beats with diminished vigor, and our eyes lose their brightness, if we continue, month after month, and year after year, without a rest. Mental work will as surely wear out the brain as friction will destroy the iron wheel. It is a bad policy to forego the regular vacation.