The Most

“Make every effort to confirm your calling and election.” 2 Peter 1:10

“Everything Christian—For Less.” 

Boldly emblazoned on both sides of a freshly delivered box, the words caught my eye and made me think.  Paying half of retail was definitely a bargain, and I was glad to get good stuff at a great price, but I started to wonder if our zeal for a deal in commerce doesn’t sometimes carry over to our Christianity.

God has given us so much—“more than we could ask or imagine”—in a relationship with the Father through the Son by the Spirit, and we are graced with indescribable, eternal life, but to get the most out of what it means to know God, we must “make every effort” to “live up to what we have already attained”(2 Pet 1:5, Phil 3:16).  And there’s the rub.  We want the “Everything Christian” that comes with life in Christ, but we want it “For Less”—less effort, less energy, and less gratitude than such a gift deserves. 

We want the blessings that come from obedience but don’t want to comply with commands that are inconvenient.  We want the intimacy of a close walk with God but want to spend less time in His Word.  We want the peace of God to rule in our hearts but prefer worry over prayer.  We want guidance and direction in decisions but want to consider less of God’s glory and more of our good.  We want the faith, hope, and love without the blood, sweat, and tears—at least not our own.

I’m not pointing fingers; I’m looking in the mirror and talking to the one I see.  The death of two friends within the past five days has made me realize again the incredible present of God’s presence and promise and has caused to me consider how much I take His grace for granted and how I fail to give all of me to all of Him all the time.

The price Jesus paid to defeat death, atone for sin, and redeem His own was much too high for us to try and get by with the least possible input on our part.  Truly we can do nothing to earn our salvation—it is a free gift of grace—but once we’ve believed and received, our response should mirror His sacrifice—absolute and complete.  We should “work out our salvation” with intense determination, loyal diligence, and grateful perseverance (Phil 2:12).

“Everything Christian—For Less.”

It’s a clever motto for a company, but a lousy slogan for real life.  Give God your best—not your less—and live each moment to the most.

"As Is" Condition

^“If you make an altar of stones for me, do not build it with dressed stones, for you will defile it if you use a tool on it.” Exodus 20:21

Cut stones can be beautiful.  Just ask any girl with a sparkle on her left hand.  But when it comes to altars, God likes rocks in the rough.  ^“If you make an altar of stones for me, do not build it with dressed stones, for you will defile it if you use a tool on it”(Ex 20:21).  This instruction followed up the Ten Commandments and explained how the Israelites were to worship the One who was to be first and only.

But why did God not want tools used on the stones?  The rocks would have stacked better and looked nicer if the rough edges were hewn off, but God demanded that they be brought unrefined.  Profound theological explanations for this command most likely abound in commentaries, but here are my common sense reasons:

Perhaps God knew if He let His people chip away they might focus on the beauty of the altar or on the craftsman who had the most balanced stack of stones instead of on the One for whom the altar was built.  

Possibly He felt that His people would be easily distracted by trying to be the best sculptor or build the best structure and that they would get caught up in comparison instead of adoration.   

Or maybe God didn’t want His people trying to fix up what only He could make right.  Cutting and chiseling might make the altar more presentable, but only God’s presence would make it perfect.  Nothing they could do would make anything more worthy of the One whose value is beyond measure, and nothing they built could ever be good enough for a perfect, holy God.  So He said to bring the stones as they were.

He wants us to come the same way too.  It’s the only way, really.  Oh, we try to dress up, cover up, fix up, and straighten up our own offenses, but none of us will ever make ourselves good enough for the perfect God.  I’m not suggesting we shouldn’t bring the best of our time, talents, and treasure to the Lord, and I’m not stating we shouldn’t repent of our wrong and confess our sin.  I’m simply saying that forgiveness and “fixing” is only found in Him, and any attempts at self-improvement will only divert our faith and distract our focus.

I’m saying that we shouldn’t try to fix the mess we’ve made ourselves or made of ourselves, but, instead, we should bring our failures, faults, and fiascos to our compassionate, gracious God and let Him do the work.  His presence, given through the Spirit by the sacrifice of Jesus, is what makes us holy—nothing else will help, no matter how hard we try.

“As Is” condition is the only way to approach.   

S0 come as you are and let God make you holy. 

God's Top Ten

“And God spoke all these words.”  Exodus 20:1

 

The garden courtyard at my church boasts a large granite monument boldly proclaiming the Ten Commandments.   This famous list of laws is important, so much so that its initial reveal way back in the wilderness wasn’t merely through stone etching but also by God speaking—out loud and in person from a trembling, smoking mountain. 

What God had to say matters—a lot—for then and for now.  Actually, for forever because God’s Top Ten are not merely guidelines for a good, moral life but are His very description of Himself, showing us who He is and what He desires and deserves. 

Here’s a summary of what He said:

§  Focus on God first—only and always.  No one else and no thing ever deserves your time, attention, energy, and adoration more than God.

§  Don’t let your own ideas or ideals replace the reality of who God is.  Right priorities prevent punishment.

§  God’s name is too precious to play around with.  If you wear His label, your words and your works should never be a source of slander.

§  Take one day per week to rest.  Time to refresh and refocus is blessed by God and needed by you.

§  The ones who brought you up shouldn’t be put down. 

§  Life is precious, so elimination isn’t an option.  

§  Keep your hands and your heart on your spouse. 

§  If something doesn’t belong to you, leave it alone.

§  Always tell only the truth.

§  Don’t wish you had what others have.

The Old Testament Law contains 613 commands, but 603 of those are simply expansions of these Top Ten.  Condensed in a few short sentences are the very nature of God and the need of man.  He is perfect, and we need to be the same.  Though the controversy surrounding the public display of these divine declarations makes us want to read them loudly and proudly shout, “Yeah!”, a closer look makes us mouth, “Yikes!” as we realize our guilt in repeatedly breaking the instructions and the intent. 

But don’t despair. Keep reading in the Word and keep walking in the garden, and you will find a cross where monumental grace was poured out for a desperate people. Through God’s mercy, Christ’s perfection has covered our fault, and through faith, we now have power to obey and pardon when we don’t.  

The Ten Commandments are endlessly important, but they are not the end.  The relationship behind the rules is what counts and what God caused.  The One who came down to speak the commandments to us moved down to keep the commandments for us, and now we can relate to Him and to others the way we should.  

When you love the right One, you can live the Top Ten.