God's Word is full of numbers.  One could undoubtedly spend an entire lifetime researching the significance of the innumerable (pun alert) references to numbers throughout the Scriptures.  And as we look deeper and deeper into the 66 books of the Bible, it becomes overtly clear that these figures and amounts are placed delicately by One whose wisdom far surpasses the minds of Moses or Paul or John or the other writers.

Take, for example, the number twelve.  Even a quick glance through the pages of the Old and New Testaments reveals that the number twelve is extremely significant.  Twelve tribes of Israel, twelve disciples (later twelve apostles), twelve spies sent into Canaan, and so on.  The New Jerusalem of Revelation chapter 21 has "a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel."

Noah and his family were inside the ark as it rained for 40 days and 40 nights.  Jesus spent the same amount of time fasting in the wilderness while He was tempted by Satan.  Moses also spent 40 days and nights in the Mountain of the Lord to receive the Ten (another number) Commandments and the instructions for the tabernacle.  This was in the midst of a 40-year wandering in the wilderness by the Israelites following their Exodus from Egypt via the ten (there's ten again) plagues.

Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the famous big fish.  And in Matthew 12:40, Jesus says, "For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."  (And He was...).  When Abraham was told to offer Isaac, it was the third day when the sacrifice took place and God provided "Himself a lamb for the burnt offering" (Gen. 22:8).

As you begin to dig deeper and deeper in your study of Scriptures, I'm sure you will be absolutely overwhelmed by the Spirit's consistent and abundant use of numbers and figures that seem to intertwine all 66 books into one.  The five stones of David, the five loaves of bread used to feed five thousand.  The thousand years of Revelation, the thousand wives and concubines of Solomon.  The number of the beast, which is the number of a man: 666.  And the sevens - my goodness, the sevens.  The Bible is plastered with the number of completion, the number seven.  The seven days of Creation, Daniel's famous set of 70 sevens (or weeks), the countless sevens in the Revelation; a quick computer scan revealed the use of the word "seven" 400 times - in the Old Testament alone!

And these are just the obvious uses of numbers throughout the Bible.  Some researchers have made a career out of studying the more subtle -- and surprising -- numerical patterns included within the pages of God's Word.  One field of study, gemetria, takes the numerical values from the Hebrew and Greek languages to discover amazing parallels between passages of Scripture.

But all this "number-talk" is really just a buildup to the most significant number in all of Scripture.

It is fascinating and rewarding to study and discover just how intricately detailed the Word of God actually is.  The small lists of frequently-used numbers that we've looked at thus far can hardly do justice to the true magnificence of this amazing collection of works that we call the Bible. 

The most important and relevant number in all the Bible, however, is also the most obvious and blatant.  It's so simple, that maybe we don't even tend to include it with all the other meaningful integers like the sevens and the 666's.  I'm referring, of course, to the number one.  Obvious?  Yes, definitely.  Simple?  I suppose.  Overlooked?  Probably too often.  Important?  It's a matter of eternal life and death.

All the other numbers in Scripture are important, don't get me wrong.  When we see the precision with which numbers such as seven are dispersed throughout the Bible, even the most intelligent among us are confounded and amazed.  But probably no other number in the Bible accompanies the pain, the joy, the tears, and the awe of the numero uno.

For example, how many paths do we have to get to Heaven?  One.  Jesus said, "I am the [one] way, the [one] truth, and the [one] life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6, emphasis mine).

How many Sons did God sacrifice to save us?  One.  Out of how many?  One.  How much did it take for man to ruin God's plan?  How much did it take to fix it? 

For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)  Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.  For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. (Romans 5:17-19).

It's a simple message, I know.  But it's one that seems to be lost in the world today, and even some churches.  The Bible is an extremely complex and deep piece of work.  God is beyond even our most fundamental understanding.  But salvation is not a difficult concept.  God's awesome Gift made it a one-step, one-choice process.

Just take a moment and think of some of the important "one"s and "only"s in the Bible.  You should develop a respect and admiration for God and maybe even a new perspective on the depths of His love.  Make sure that you never take for granted how much you need to live your "one" life serving God.  If you haven't already, accept God's one invitation to Heaven through His one and only Son.  All it takes is one prayer.