What If I Missed The Mark?

Working early this morning and having breakfast late, what would I do if the Law required me to eat breakfast before the sunrise and work only after noon? We can strive and strive after the Law, but if we fail to keep the least rule, we are condemned for all of eternity. Jesus had the answer to keeping the Law: 'Be ye perfect even as your Father in Heaven is perfect.' I'm doomed, lost my chance at Heaven right there. I like the man we know as the rich young ruler in the Bible. He claimed to have kept the commandments since youth, but then Jesus gave him just one more. Crash! That one did him in, and the rich young man went off to lick his spiritual wounds. In watching the Olympic diving competition, it turns out there is a one hundred-point dive. One that earns all ten's and is supposed to be the perfect dive. We know that isn't really possible, but the divers train and practice to achieve that one dive.

You have seen the 10-meter platform diving. That is a mite too high for me even to look over, but these divers launch themselves off that platform doing somersaults, twists, and other bodily contortions in chasing that perfect dive. Now, suppose that the Law required only that one perfect dive. Perform it at the age of 10, and you're set to enjoy the remainder of your earthly life. Wait until you are 100, and the chances of making that dive might seem a bit remote. However, try as we might, most of us will never be able to dive off the 10-meter platform, much less achieve a perfect score. The more practice you do in pursuit of the one perfect dive, the more abuse your body, in particular your head, endures and the less chance you have of earning your way into Heaven. Fortunately, God is not in the business of judging us by our diving ability. Unfortunately, the keeping of the Law works in much the same way. The longer we live, the more our chances of blowing it. The good news is that Jesus, God's own Son, came and made that one perfect dive for all of us. We don't have to fret and worry over that one perfect dive to get into Heaven. So, why are we not enjoying the remainder of our lives and spreading the good news that we have in Christ?

Bucky