I recently read the seventh chapter of the book of Nehemiah.  The passage lists the names of the children of Israel who came back to Jerusalem from Babylonian captivity.  The passage looked like this:

“Who came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, Baanah. The number, I say, of the men of the people of Israel was this; The children of Parosh, two thousand an hundred seventy and two. The children of Shephatiah, three hundred seventy and two. The children of Arah, six hundred fifty and two. The children of Pahathmoab, of the children of Jeshua and Joab, two thousand and eight hundred and eighteen. The children of Elam, a thousand two hundred fifty and four.”

     This pattern went on for 73 verses. Most of the names are hard to pronounce and lack major significance.  To be brutally honest, I started getting bored as I read through the long list. At the end of the devotion I paused to consider why the Lord saw fit to include these names and asked how these names were supposed to affect me.

      Then I realized something – the Lord keeps up with everybody. To others your life may be boring and simply a name on a page, but to God you are special and important enough to be listed in His book. He knows you, sees you, and keeps up with the smallest details of your life.