Growing up, I loved helping my uncle wash his car. I enjoyed playing with the soap and the water. It was always a good time, but I don’t think my uncle enjoyed me “helping” as much. Although I thought I was being helpful, I was actually doing more harm than good. I enjoyed playing more than I cared about getting the car washed. Even though I put soap and water on the car, I did not scrub all of the car so there would be dirt spots everywhere. After I left, my uncle would have to go back and clean up my mess and try to clean all the spots I missed. Even though I had fun and enjoyed the time with my uncle, I did not really accomplish the goal at hand. The car was not clean and my uncle was not satisfied with the job I did.
Some might see following God in this way. God has told us how he wants us to follow him and what he expects from us through Scripture, but sometimes people like to take matters into their own hands. There are those who sometimes want to do things that they enjoy and find pleasurable instead of actually following God. Some may tell themselves that, because they went to church on Sunday, God will be happy with them that week as though they had done enough. That is not the case. We can not always give in to what we want when our desire goes against God’s desire for us. James tells us in the first chapter of his book that we are tempted by our own desires, and when we give into these desires then that can lead to sin. Jeremiah, in chapter seventeen, tells us that the heart is deceitful and wicked. We cannot trust our own will and desires because that is not the standard we are striving for.
The standard we should strive to follow is Jesus. Peter tells us to be holy because God is holy. We are called to a higher standard than we may hold ourselves to.
When people hold themselves to a standard, even though they might have fun and enjoy themselves, they are not going to be able to see all the dirt that is left. God sees the dirt and tries to make us clean, but we can only do that if we trust in His standard and follow it.
Grant Copeland
Dalraida church of Christ is a congregation of Christians that meet in the mid-town area of Montgomery, Alabama. Our goal and purpose is to seek and follow God and His Word in everything that we do in life.