How Do I Measure Up?

In my devotion entitled "What am I worth" last week, I expounded on what I felt my worth was as an individual in the sight of God. At the end of the devotion, I asked the question about how we are to look at ourselves and what kind of difference are we going to make. This week I want to continue on that train of thought to look at how I measure up to God's standards.

Amos 7:7-8
"Thus He showed me, and behold, the Lord was standing by a vertical wall with a plumb line in His hand. The LORD said to me, “What do you see, Amos?” And I said, “A plumb line.” Then the Lord said, “Behold I am about to put a plumb line In the midst of My people Israel. I will spare them no longer."

It may be hard for some people to remember what a plumb line is. Back in the day, (a little before my time) someone building a house would use a plumb line to make sure the wall is standing up straight, and not leaning. They would attach a weight to a string and lower it from the top of the wall at a certain distance from the top of the wall. They would then look at the distance from the weight to the wall and determine how much adjusting they would have to do to the wall to make it straight. Now a days, we have replaced the plumb line with the level, which uses bubbles in a tube to make sure something is standing up straight. In the analogy above, God tells to prophet Amos that he was going to measure His people, and not continue to spare those that did not measure up. He was going to deal with them for their disobedience to His commandments.

If God were to put a plumb line on us, would He find that we measure up to His standards? I am sure that we would not. For none of us are good enough on our own to present ourselves righteous before God. There are many people today that have the idea of what my pastor likes to call "easy believeism". This is where people think that all they have to do is say that they believe in God and that is enough. But, that is not accurate with what the bible teaches.

Romans 10:9-11
"that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”

Jesus as Lord. Lord meaning your master. This means that you choose to follow Him and all that He teaches. If we truly believe He is who He says He is, we will obey what He teaches and commands. Satan believes in God. He knows for a fact that Christ rose from the grave. He knows the bible better than any of us. Does that mean he will get into heaven?

John 14:15
"If you love Me, you will keep My commandments."

Luke 6:46
"“Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?"

So what can we do to help us measure up? Be faithful to Him. On our own we are nothing. But, if we devote our lives to Him, if we strive daily to look for ways to serve Him, these are the things that God looks at for us. What have we done with the gift that His Son gave? If we look at ourselves on a daily basis on how we measure up, it will help us to grow. We would be forced to face our sins and short comings and deal with them. All of this will help us to grow closer to God. Can we ever be perfect? No, but that is no excuse for not trying.

Thanks, and God Bless You All this week!

What am I worth?

I have always felt self reflection necessary to Christian growth. To take time to examine ourselves, to see if we are being true to our Lord. If we find an area in which we struggle, then we can focus on changing that to something that we are strong in. 1 Corinthians 11:28 reads "But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup." Now this verse is found in the teaching of observing the Lord's Supper, and should be done before taking of the Lord's supper because of the warning given in the context of the verse. However, we should not limit ourselves to this practice around the time of Lord's Supper at church. It should be a daily process. If we only look at what needs fixing every once in a while, we might be missing something all together.

In my self reflections lately, I have been asking the question, 'Am I doing all that I am supposed to?' And 'How does God see me when He looks at me?' The answer that I come up with was not too good. Was I as a person worth the price that Christ had to pay on the cross. It is hard sometimes to view ourselves in this light, and honestly I found myself fighting back the tears. Am I as a person, worth anything to God? Does He need me? Of course He doesn't. There is nothing good enough about myself on my own that is good enough for God. However, the amazing part is that He loves me anyway. He gave His life for me. Not because I deserve it, or because I think I am entitled to it. But, just because He loves me.

We need to live life in the thought of how can we make His sacrifice pay back dividends. Christ invested a lot in us. How much do we return the favor. I can only imagine what it was like to hang on a cross and forgive me for all the times I was going to fail. He thought about me! So what am doing? Am I trying my best to serve Him? Let's be honest. It is easier to be a Christian in the US than it is elsewhere in this world. People are dying in other countries because of what they believe. They are paying the ultimate price for their beliefs, while we sit all comfortable and cozy here. So, what can I do different that will make a difference here? These are questions that I encourage you to asks yourselves on a daily basis. Imagine what a change we could see in our spiritual lives if the first thing on our minds when we get up, is how can I best serve my Savior today, or how can I do better in serving my Savior today. Because it is not about me anymore, it is about Him.

Thanks for reading, and God Bless You all this week!