June 24, 1997
While mutually admiring a photograph of the Rockies, seven-year-old Levi told me he loves being in the mountains. I asked this little lad, “When you stand looking up at them, do they make you feel small?”
He said, “No, I already know I am small.”
The so-called negative realities of life are sometimes difficult for most people to accept. Some “vertically challenged” adults buy shoes with lifts or wear clothes with vertical stripes, anything to appear taller. Two shoe salespeople have related that customers came in insisting they wear shoes two sizes smaller than the pair that fits them. Both clerks admitted scratching off the number and putting the proper-sized shoes in the wrong box, just to make the sale. They understood that these customers are not prepared simply to state the facts and live with them. Perhaps that is why remarks like Levi’s make us say, “Out of the mouths of babes. . . .”
Accepting undesired, unchangeable features is a challenge for many people. Too often we think we should be taller, or slimmer, or have smaller feet, or that our bodies must conform to the vogue in Hollywood or the criteria of New York modeling agents.
That our outside shape dictates our value seems to be an old problem. Somewhere around 1050 BC, the people asked one of God’s prophets to anoint for them a king. He picked Saul. The Bible says Saul was “an impressive young man without equal among the Israelites—a head taller than any of the others.”
Saul also impressed the prophet but after a few years, that same prophet had to boot him from office. This “impressive” king had not kept the commands the Lord God gave him so his tenure as king was over. God asked the prophet to anoint another man.
This time he was directed to a family with several sons. When he saw the height and appearance of the first one, he said, “Surely the LORD’s anointed stands here . . .” but God told him “No.” He added, “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
Because we see the outside first, we often make evaluations on only that. If a person’s appearance conforms to our idea of good, favorable, well-shaped, lovely, well-muscled, or whatever other measurement we use, then we accept the person. In other words, if “short” is in then Levi will not have a problem with his peers, but if tall is popular, he will be ostracized for being small for his age.
Thankfully, God does not look at Levi or anyone else with those measurements in mind. Instead, He looks for an honest heart, one that will admit that the standards of this world are not reliable. They change from culture to culture, from year to year but God’s standards never change.
For that reason, the Lord looks for people who can say, “Yes, I may be short (if shortness is their particular issue) but I also fall short. I cannot measure up to the standards of God and I know that I need a Savior. I need God’s forgiveness and His help so that I can become all that He wants me to be.”
God also says, “Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD. . . .”
An addition seems appropriate: “Let not the tall, handsome lad boast in his appearance...” Levi, small and ordinary, displays extraordinary humility. He has already taken a giant step towards pleasing God.
Showing posts with label standards. Show all posts
Showing posts with label standards. Show all posts
Friday, March 10, 2017
Friday, September 27, 2013
Standards ......................... Parables 024
In the past few weeks we have been made aware of standards. Some meat packing plants have failed standards. A roller coaster didn’t perform as it should have. Some students are writing standardized exams. Certain wage earners are demanding that their standard of living is maintained.
Standards are the gauges by which performance or quality is measured. We speak of high standards, a standard of excellence, lowered standards, and even double-standards. Comparison to a standard is such a commonplace activity that we do it daily, even hourly, without even being conscious of it.
Spiritually, there are standards too. Some people call the Ten Commandments the standard for morals and behavior. Others use the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do to you.” Some would say the Beatitudes are the standards and still others would hold up the two great commandments, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.”
The most lofty standard was given by Jesus Christ when He said, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:24).
When we set our own standards, we can usually reach them. In some cases, if the standard is too high, those attempting to reach it are able to have it lowered, making it possible to hit the mark. I remember a school teacher telling me that the standard for city police in that state (in the U.S.) had been lowered so that they could include the required number of minorities - in order to fulfill another standard that had been set.
However, no person meets the standards of God. No one is perfect, no one loves God or others or themselves completely. Not one person is consistent in treating others as well as they want themselves treated, and all of us have broken the commandments, in thought if not in actual deed. We have missed the mark, fallen short of the target. We do not meet the standard. Scripture uses a short, three-letter word for that. It is called “sin.”
I talked about sin once to a group of children in Junior Church. One lovely little 4-year-old rolled her eyes and declared, “But I haven’t murdered anyone.” No, she had not. But she had written her own definition of sin, and changed the standard so that she could measure up to it. Have you ever done that? I have. Even doing that is sin too.
God, who never changes, established a standard that He will not change. But He is not heartless and indifferent to our failure. Instead, he offers to change us. “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you . . . and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my judgments, and do them.”
Our part? Just ask Him.
Standards are the gauges by which performance or quality is measured. We speak of high standards, a standard of excellence, lowered standards, and even double-standards. Comparison to a standard is such a commonplace activity that we do it daily, even hourly, without even being conscious of it.
Spiritually, there are standards too. Some people call the Ten Commandments the standard for morals and behavior. Others use the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do to you.” Some would say the Beatitudes are the standards and still others would hold up the two great commandments, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.”
The most lofty standard was given by Jesus Christ when He said, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:24).
When we set our own standards, we can usually reach them. In some cases, if the standard is too high, those attempting to reach it are able to have it lowered, making it possible to hit the mark. I remember a school teacher telling me that the standard for city police in that state (in the U.S.) had been lowered so that they could include the required number of minorities - in order to fulfill another standard that had been set.
However, no person meets the standards of God. No one is perfect, no one loves God or others or themselves completely. Not one person is consistent in treating others as well as they want themselves treated, and all of us have broken the commandments, in thought if not in actual deed. We have missed the mark, fallen short of the target. We do not meet the standard. Scripture uses a short, three-letter word for that. It is called “sin.”
I talked about sin once to a group of children in Junior Church. One lovely little 4-year-old rolled her eyes and declared, “But I haven’t murdered anyone.” No, she had not. But she had written her own definition of sin, and changed the standard so that she could measure up to it. Have you ever done that? I have. Even doing that is sin too.
God, who never changes, established a standard that He will not change. But He is not heartless and indifferent to our failure. Instead, he offers to change us. “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you . . . and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my judgments, and do them.”
Our part? Just ask Him.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)