What do you think are the biggest barriers to overcoming any kind of addiction. This last week at BC we talked about living in denial. So many people think they are Ok. Well I’m a good person, I pay taxes, I don’t beat my wife, I provide for my kids, I’m a loving wife, I have many friends, I’m well respected at work, so and and so on. It’s very easy to buy this lie of the devil!
One day as I was driving down the road I started to think of somebody besides Jesus that people should model their life after. Of recent people I will be honest I thought of Billy Graham. I just think he lived his life so much above reproach that no matter how hard people have tried to dig up dirt on him, he has stayed true. Now I’m not advocating Billy as next to Jesus but just thinking through Godly men. Even though Billy is Great I’m sure their are things in his past. I thought of many other hero’s of the faith, but one came to the front as far as bible characters. It seems like so many bible characters had some sort of flaw. Peter denied, Thomas doubted, David loved women, and Paul had the “thorn in his side”. But as I wondered about this I thought about John the Baptist. I thought, I never heard anything bad written about him. Yea, he was very outrageous in the way he lived his life, but nothing immoral or sinful. And then I ran across this verse and this is what Jesus said,
“I tell you the truth, among those born of women, no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he is” (Matthew 11:11).
This right here shows you that no matter how great you think someone is, or how you think that your OK, that your best is still dirty rags to God. I like how the NLT puts it:
Isaiah 64:6
6 We are all infected and impure with sin.
When we display our righteous deeds,
they are nothing but filthy rags.
Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall,
and our sins sweep us away like the wind.
Even though John was the Greatest amongst Men, he still is not the GREATEST. Only Jesus Christ himself should ever be lifted up. He is our example and Jesus said not just to “Believe in Me” but he told the people to “Follow Me”. Are you following Jesus. Are you laying everything down at his feet? All of your imperfections? Or are you living in Denial thinking your OK?
Any Thoughts?
There is a particular family that I am friends with that when I first started getting to know them I really thought they had to be the perfect people I had ever met. Their marriage is built on the rock, they overflow with abundant love and self sacrifice for one another and Jesus Christ exudes from their lives. So, I came to the conclusion they were pretty much the perfect example. To my surprise, as I began to spend more time and build intimate friendships with them I soon realized they weren’t perfect. From that point on, I came to the conclusion that if you think someone is perfect you just don’t know them that well! Now, I still believe they are an AWESOME example for the world, but I had to realize that people, no matter how perfect they seem, are not who I should look to as a standard. The only standard I should follow is Jesus Christ and no man or woman compares.
We all need a Savior because we are sinners…..period.
This is a nice devotional. I had forgotten that Christ had said that about The Baptist. Let us imitate Christ in all that we do, and Lord help us!