Seventy men were selected by Christ to visit the under privileged towns and villages of Perea. Their assignment was to prepare the way and to prepare hearts to receive the Lord. They were equipped with special powers to heal the physically sick. Crutches were abandoned; bandages were torn off; stretchers were folded up and sent to storage; white canes were returned to the Institute for the Blind; and arthritic hands nimbly knit socks again. But things went even better than they had expected. They seemed surprised and delighted that they were empowered to exorcize demons as well.

Now they are returning to give an update on their activities. Look at their faces. They are beaming. They are not dragging their feet in discouragement. They are probably walking briskly. They can hardly wait to share the results with their Master. Now they have arrived and the attentive Christ listens as they give their missionary report with excitement and joy.

They were definitely on a high. Pumped. Thrilled, and ready for more action. But Christ gently nudges them to refocus. When the results of our service become the source of our joy, the needle in our ‘joy gauge’ will fluctuate wildly, swinging from the right to the left – sometimes over night. “No,” He said, “don’t be happy because you had power to cast out demons, but be happy because your names are indelibly inscribed in the Registry of Heaven.”

Our efforts in service for Christ are not always consistent. We have our ups and downs. Good days and bad ones. The results are sometimes hindered by our own failures. Not everything accomplished for the Lord is visible to human eyes. So if our happiness is dependent on what only our eyes can see or on what we can do, or based on what we can produce, then our joy will fluctuate wildly – up and down like a yo-yo.

Jesus said to focus on the fact that your name is written in Heaven. There is no wavering or uncertainty or unpredictability in that unchangeable fact. That’s a constant – not a variable. You are a full-fledged citizen of Heaven, even though your feet are still on earth. My own inconsistencies, bouts of slackness and failure have no effect on that ‘constant.’ That fact depends on the faithfulness of Christ – not my own faithfulness. That fact depends on the ‘effectiveness’ of Christ’s work for me 2000 years ago, not the ‘effectiveness’ of my own work.

Anchor your joy in that fact! You have eternal life through the Lord Jesus Christ. You may never have your name inscribed on your nation’s highest honor’s list. Your name may never appear in history books or be inscribed on bronze plates on the walls of prestigous buildings. But here’s a thrilling thought that will give you a boost every time you think of it: your name could be inscribed in no higher place than heaven itself! It is beyond the reach of a hacker. There’s no identity theft up there. It can’t be deleted, erased or accidentally removed. It’s permanent. Forever. Eternal. The Lamb’s Book of Life. Praise the Lord. Hallelujah!

My name is written there. Is yours?