Perfect: Monday Manna

This week, Vonnie is hosting Monday Manna, so be sure to pop over to My Back Door and read the other entries, and link up if you want to participate.

Here's this week's verse:

Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5:48 NIV

What a standard for us. Perfect. Not good. Not extremely good. Not fabulous. Perfect.Without fault. Ideal. Without blemish. Exactly as it should be in His eyes.

And in case you're not sure how high a standard this is, check out the second part of the verse: "as your heavenly Father is perfect." I don't see a BIT of wiggle room. We all know that everything God does is right and just. Perfect. So that's the yard stick we need to measure up to.

And I don't know about you, but I can't. Just since I started typing up this post, I've done at least one thing that the Lord would likely call "imperfect" (and no, it is NOT confession time!). And if I were a betting woman, I'd gladly wager that another will pop into my life before I'm quite done with it.

So, if that is God's command (and I have no reason to believe it isn't), I'm out of luck. Can't do it. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).

So, what hope do I have?  In a word, Christ.

Because God sent His perfect Son to die on the cross for me, and have accepted that death as payment for my own sins, God sees me through the filter of Christ's perfection. I am perfect - not because what I have done, but because of Whose I am.

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Thanks for reading. Be sure to stop by Vonnie's blog for more Monday Manna.

Paving Rough Roads With God's Presence