day 682: Tracking

"And the very hairs of your head are numbered."

I worked with a Chief Operating Officer whose working statement was: "Inspect what you expect and expect what you inspect". As can be imagined, in order to inspect what is expected, the business must have metrics and measurables that can be ranked, stacked, compared and evaluated. Finding the root metrics is one of the hardest things to do. Businesses that can get those down to five or less can really drive results. Those that measure tens if not hundreds of factors can find themselves awash and overwhelmed with trying to compile, count and decipher the data into useful information. I was in a meeting recently where the group I was with was able to get the root metrics down to two...an incoming and an out-flowing measurement, both that were clear and obvious so that if either of these were moving we would be able to see and impact the health of the organization. It was like the light-bulb came on when the two were thrown out on the table to discuss. It was so evident that we then wondered why we had missed them for so long. Being able to track the root causes and influences of a business and use that tracking to gauge progress and bring about improvement may be the best business tools of all.

We are blessed to know that God tracks us too. We, as His children, are the core and most important thing to Him. In Matthew He tells us that He is watching, counting, and tracking us. To think that the hairs on our head are numbered is for God to say yo us that everything about us is important to Him. What a gift that truly is to know that He cares that much. For us then to not take our spiritual growth seriously is to ignore and to take God's attention that He has for us for granted. Let's today step back and see what we are measuring and tracking in our own lives and see if we can't come to the root measurements that can make an eternal difference.

Reference: Matthew 10:30 (New Living Testament)