Plumb Perfect
On Wednesday mornings I meet up with a couple guys to study Scripture and talk about how the gospel shapes our days. (If you are a dude near Rancho Bernardo and want to hang at 6:30 am... meet us at Starbucks!) And this morning, yet again, we were reminded of the goodness of Jesus toward us.
Of course, it took a while to get there. We are studying Amos, one of the Minor Prophets, that spoke the word of God to Israel long ago. His particular message in the chapter we read today was that he was setting a plumb line and letting wrath for sinfulness and idol worship flow. The people, the whole nation, would be taken out of the land, destroyed. It was hard words of judgment, words that one false priest said the people couldn't bear. Oh, how we are like Israel...
We talked of wrath, of national identity versus individual hope, of our own inability to avoid the "high places" of our culture (little spots to worship things and other gods.) But we kept coming back to the plumb line. Was God building a wall; was he judging the nation against his standard as a level? Either way, what was deserved was coming.
Then we got it. "I suppose if God held his plumb line to me it would be pretty crooked..." Yes, that's it, the doorpost of our house is bent and askew. "But it is not us that he holds the plumb next to." It is Christ that the plumb line, the standard is measured by. And he sees if as plumb perfect. Each angle working, firm, fixed, level, absolutely perfect. This is how we are seen in Christ.
This is the gospel that shapes our day, our week, our month and all of life. Because Jesus took our place, we are now wearing his perfection. The wrath for our sin has been met, and we will not be "sent away" but made to dwell with him forever.
Today, recognize that your "plumb" is off, in fact, if it weren't, Jesus wouldn't have come for you. But in your need, he did come, he took on your crooked and made it perfect. Rejoice, in Jesus you are free, forgiven and hopeful.
Of course, it took a while to get there. We are studying Amos, one of the Minor Prophets, that spoke the word of God to Israel long ago. His particular message in the chapter we read today was that he was setting a plumb line and letting wrath for sinfulness and idol worship flow. The people, the whole nation, would be taken out of the land, destroyed. It was hard words of judgment, words that one false priest said the people couldn't bear. Oh, how we are like Israel...
We talked of wrath, of national identity versus individual hope, of our own inability to avoid the "high places" of our culture (little spots to worship things and other gods.) But we kept coming back to the plumb line. Was God building a wall; was he judging the nation against his standard as a level? Either way, what was deserved was coming.
Then we got it. "I suppose if God held his plumb line to me it would be pretty crooked..." Yes, that's it, the doorpost of our house is bent and askew. "But it is not us that he holds the plumb next to." It is Christ that the plumb line, the standard is measured by. And he sees if as plumb perfect. Each angle working, firm, fixed, level, absolutely perfect. This is how we are seen in Christ.
This is the gospel that shapes our day, our week, our month and all of life. Because Jesus took our place, we are now wearing his perfection. The wrath for our sin has been met, and we will not be "sent away" but made to dwell with him forever.
Today, recognize that your "plumb" is off, in fact, if it weren't, Jesus wouldn't have come for you. But in your need, he did come, he took on your crooked and made it perfect. Rejoice, in Jesus you are free, forgiven and hopeful.
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