Perfection

A group of special friends comes over for dinner. You spend hours preparing for the meal. You vacuum your house or apartment. You bring out the best dishes in your cabinet. You want everything to be just perfect. Any food improperly cooked, or signs of a dirty house, could take away from the specialness of the evening. Everything must be perfect. Whether we are putting on a new roof, adding a hot tub, or a child carrying out a chore, we expect the job to be well done, not slipshod.

Our desire for perfection can be seen not only in the home, but also in the workplace. Your employer expects you to do your job well. Mistakes will cost the company time and money. If a company is to run efficiently and profitably, everything must be just so, perfect. Further, you yourself know that you feel the best when you have done your job perfectly. And what about your leisure time? What is it that keeps you coming back to play that round of golf again and again? Isn't it those few perfect shots in a round that motivate you to return again and again?

The God of the universe also is one who expects perfection in the people he has created. The Bible says, "Be perfect, for I the Lord your God am perfect" (Matthew 5:48). God knows that if his people are going to be what he expects them to be, they will be perfect.

The big problem here, as we all know, is that none of us is perfect. Some of that food that we prepared for those guests doesn't always turn out right, our house has dirt and spiders even though we clean it often. That perfect golf shot slices and ends up in the water hole. The assignment at work ends up with a mistake or two. The same holds true in our relationship with God. He has given us 10 commandments. But we break them. We say harsh words. We think bad thoughts. Being the just God that He is, our God must punish us. "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). Fortunately, a person named Jesus came into the world. He wanted to rescue us. Thus, He lived a perfect life. And that perfect life has been credited to our account. We receive Christ's perfection as our own. Then he died a death for all the times we messed up and weren't perfect. What remains is whether or not we believe this. It is my prayer that you do, for it is God's perfect solution to our imperfection.

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