I dare you to measure...

This post is my inner nerdling side coming out, which is a sizeable portion...but...

I think humans have an utter fascination with quantifying things.

Was it just coincidence that the founders of the United States mandated an every 10 year census as an inherent part of the Constitution? The answer -- no. Those guys were quite smart, it wasn't an accident.

We try to count everything. Look at sports fans, their teams and joys are built around sports stats, how many points their team or favorite player is scoring...if you think about it, in every industry and area of life, there is an important emphasis placed on being able to quantify whatever it is that needs quantifying.

Some things I have my doubts that accurate quantifying is going on. Scientists and doctors think they know about 15% of all there is to know about the brain. With so much unknown, how do they even know the overall amount to determine that they already know 15%? It's probably more like 0.15%.

Concrete quantities, or even estimates (that might be inaccurate), provide a much deeper understanding of the world around us. I guess that's why the human race wants to quantify so much in life, they want to understand the world in which they live.

Paul writes
"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:17-19 NIV)

Paul gets human nature. He's saying, go ahead people! Try to understand the concrete amount of Christ's love like you want to quantify all things. Its almost as if Paul is getting at that we might actually be able to understand the quantity of Christ's grace. Then he immediately follows with:

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." (Eph. 3:20-21)

"immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine..."

It's just going to be one of those things that we won't be able to quantify. Christ's love and His merciful grace is too great, too wide, too deep to count for us quantifiable-happy humans.

But go ahead, I dare you to really think about it and try to measure it.