“Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, ‘All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.’” – Exodus 24:3
We never lack good intentions! We mean well, we really do. Like the Israelites, we commit and re-commit ourselves to being good people and following all the rules. Yet despite our personal determination and commitment to self-discipline, we fail, just like they did. Soon the Israelites would forget everything they just said, heard, and saw with their own eyes, choosing to worship a statue they made themselves as God. We aren’t different.
We make our promises to God, but when we labor in our own strength and energy, we ultimately fail, exhausting and discouraging ourselves in the process. God is perfect. He is perfectly holy, righteous, and good. We simply cannot match up to His standard of perfection – “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
What we must learn, and re-learn often, is that we cannot achieve perfection on our own. Only God is perfect, so it required the sacrifice of the perfect God-man, Jesus Christ, to pay the penalty for our sins, so that all who believe in Him can be forgiven and receive the Spirit of God. It is then that God both sees us as perfect (Christ in us) and empowers us to become increasingly like Christ ourselves.
As we learn to live with and by the Spirit within us, we open ourselves for genuine and lasting heart transformation by the power of the Spirit. What is impossible for us is possible for God. By the transforming power of the Spirit, we grow in our holiness and our following of Jesus. By God’s power, and His alone, we increasingly can do what God commands us to do. We will never be perfect this side of the heaven, but God’s grace transforms us when we stop trying to change by our strength and instead deepen our relationship with Him, unleashing His power to change our sinful hearts.
#FOLLOWJESUS
NOTE: While Pastor Brian is on sabbatical, we offer this devotional which was originally published on February 18, 2020.