“However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20). 
Sometimes we get focused on the wrong thing, don’t we? We get distracted by the spectacular, the “noteworthy,” the awe-inspiring. (We all have a little ADD in us at times.) That’s what happens to the disciples in Luke 10. Jesus sends them out—72 of them—in pairs to go and proclaim the kingdom. They are sent to prepare the harvest, to prepare cities and towns along the way for Jesus to arrive. And so they go, and it’s likely many of them had never done anything like this. These 72 are not those who are closest to Jesus (not the twelve), and so their exposure to what his presence might mean could have been limited. But they go, and they prepare the way, and when they speak and teach in Jesus’ name, unbelievable things begin to happen. When they come back, they can’t wait to tell Jesus: “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name!” When we go in your name, Lord, evil powers have to flee! We’ve never seen anything like it!
Jesus tells them he’s seen even more incredible things than that (“I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven”), but that their focus is on the wrong thing. The spectacular is not what matters the most. What matters the most, according to Jesus, is that their names are written in heaven. What matters most is that they are known by God the Father. Now, that’s rather un-inspiring, or at least it’s not as “news-worthy” to most of the world. CNN or Fox News would be more likely to cover a story of a demon submitting than they would a name being written in heaven. Can you imagine a reporter arriving on the scene and asking the only person standing there, “We got a hot news tip. Where’s the news?” Well, the man might say, I’m the news. “Okay,” the reporter responds. “What’s happening?” My name has been written in heaven. The reporter would look at him in disbelief. “We came all the way out here for that? Pack it in, guys!” No, the world may not consider it to be news-worthy, but Jesus says the most important things rarely are.
While we wring our hands about economies, earthquakes, politics and policies, Jesus gently turns our focus to the most important thing, the most important question: is your name written in heaven? That’s what matters in the end—not how many spectacular things we’ve seen, not how many goosebumps we got at a particular worship service or sporting event (for some, those are one and the same). What matters is whether or not we’ve placed our trust in Jesus and found our name being written in heaven among the “list” of all those who believe.
If having our names written in heaven is cause for rejoicing, then I should ask: is your name written in heaven?