SPOTLESS
Kimberly Lawrence
Today's Scripture: “Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.” Ephesians 2:9, TLB
Theme: God saved you by His grace. There is no other way to be saved, so don’t spend your life trying to be good enough to earn it.
THE PURSUIT OF PERFECTION
Have you noticed this trend in youth sports? You know, the one that suggests that if your child didn’t start a sport by age four, if you didn’t hire a personal trainer by fifth grade, and if they didn’t join a travel team by middle school, they do not have a prayer of making the high school team? In my day (goodness that sounds old), you could be “good,” though not exceptional, and still participate. Sports were fun. Academics today are no different. Students need a college coach, personalized SAT and ACT prep classes, and a host of extracurricular activities in which they hold leadership roles to boast acceptance to a prestigious state college. There are endless competitions and comparisons.
It’s easy to see how we can become hyper focused on earning our place and being better than those around us. We are rewarded for hard work, determination, and excellence. We can’t just be “good.” We need to be GREAT!
FROM OUR PERSPECTIVE
When my sister and I were in high school, our dad made a deal with us. If we would clean our bedrooms to perfection, he would give us each $100…which was a lot of money at the time. WOW! The catch was, we only got one inspection. Pass or fail. All or nothing. If he found anything unclean or untidy, we lost out on all the money. We spent all day cleaning and then inspecting each other’s rooms, to ensure nothing was overlooked. Finally, we were ready. We really believed we had achieved perfection and started spending the money in our minds.
My dad walked in and glanced around the first room. Beaming with pride, we were ready for his praise and our reward! He then casually walked back over to the doorway and ran his finger along the top of the door jam, revealing an overlooked pile of dust. From our vantage point, we never even saw that dust, so we never considered cleaning it! Failure!
GOD’S PERSPECTIVE
Sometimes I look at my own life and fall into the trap of comparison. Well, at least I “go to church, tithe, volunteer, serve others, do my devotions, treat others kindly, …” But, if I only needed to be better than the guy/gal next to me, I wouldn’t need a Savior. I could have just saved myself! Thankfully, God saved me by His love and grace. Like the dust I never saw from my own vantage point, no matter how “perfect” I try to be, there are many blind spots of sin in my life. Without a merciful God, I would fail the test every time.
Make It Personal: Do you find yourself exhausted from the effort of trying to earn your place? While God calls each of us to acts of service, that is not what saves us. It is important to remember that God gave us a gift: Jesus Christ, His son. We can respect that gift by lovingly accepting that which we could never earn our salvation and can certainly never repay Jesus’ matchless sacrifice.
Pray: God, thank You for Your grace and Your love. Help me to remember that You alone are perfect, so that I don’t have to be. You see my failures and shortcomings but love me anyway. Forgive me for when I have been inward focused and lost sight of Your gift. Amen.
Read: Titus 3:5; Romans 3:24; James 2:18
Weekly Memory Verse: “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” John 14:6, ESV