Measuring Up
The Bible is full of some of the greatest symbolic imagery ever composed. For one thing, the metaphors of the Bible are expertly crafted and genuinely beautiful, inspiring awe for their Author in and of themselves. Additionally, their beauty and genius are enhanced by their ability to communicate the mind of God in relatable terms and convict their audiences powerfully and personally.
One such example that grabbed my attention recently is found in the opening verses of Amos 7 (vv. 1-9). As this chapter of poetic prophecy opens, Amos witnesses God preparing a swarm of locusts to destroy the harvests of Israel. Amos comes to the defense of his people, arguing on the basis of Israel’s small stature among the nations that they will not survive such an onslaught, and the Lord relents. Immediately after this, however, Amos sees another vision in which God prepares an unquenchable fire to release on Israel. Again Amos intervenes, and again the Lord relents.
The preparation of divine punishment is replaced in Amos’s third successive vision by what appears to be preparation for a building project. This time, the Lord is standing next to a wall with a plumb line in His hand. In the ancient world, the use of a plumb line was the best and most reliable way to determine the height of an object such as the wall against which the Lord stands. When Amos acknowledges the plumb line, God responds with a promise to set a plumb line among His people, and that their idolatrous sanctuaries will be laid to ruin after He does so. In the context of Amos’s former defense of Israel, God’s point is made clear: “If small stature is the excuse being used to escape the response of God, let’s see just how big Israel turns out to be.”
Two questions jump out at me from this passage. First: Do I measure up to the standard of God? Obviously, I’m not going to measure up on my own thanks to the imperfection of my sin. Thankfully and to the glory of God, I have been saved by grace, through faith, in Christ, and I have been given the opportunity for my works of faith to be presented before God by Christ as one of His masterpieces (Ephesians 2:1-10). The question of measuring up therefore becomes the question of whether I am accepting God’s grace in my life and working to prove my faith in Him to the world. Truthfully, I answer this question every day, but if I have doubts about what my answer actually is, perhaps it is worth looking at the evidence I have presented.
This is where the second question comes in: What excuses am I making to justify my failure to measure up to God’s standard? Have I become OK with my “pet sin?” Have I decided that someone else will take the opportunity to bear witness to the Gospel so that I don’t have to? Do I chalk it up to living in America in the 21st century, and to the belief that “Christianity just looks differently today than it did back then”? These and other similar thoughts may allow me to delay my awareness of God’s response for a season, but that delay will not last forever. God has shown me His standard, and at the end of the day it is this standard by which I will be judged. If I am lacking, or if I’m not sure whether I am lacking or not, perhaps it is time to look to Him and accept what He has given me: the challenge to grow.
“Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.” ~ 1 Peter 2:2-3
AUTHOR: Luke Tatum
