I know, you thought I was talking about the Florida Beach Life! But today is a perfect day. It is a perfect time to start living the perfect life. Though you and I are already perfect, let us take a look at what it takes to live the perfect life. Let us first look at the different ways the word Perfect is used, then define it.
- Perfect fit
- Perfect match
- Perfect sense
- Perfect shot
- Perfect storm
- Perfect stranger
- Perfect ten
- Picture perfect
- Practice makes perfect
- The perfect crime
- The perfect spot
- Pitch-perfect
Definition of Perfect:
Perfect (verb) – make (something) completely free from faults or defects, or as close to such a condition as possible. To make perfect.
If Only I Were Perfect
So then is anything really perfect? I believe that if we could, we would live a perfect life. But our humaneness fails us. At times it seems the harder we try, the harder we fall. Our bodies fail us when tired and exhausted. Our emotions get the best of us when our energy level wains. Our mind snaps and our mouth says things we don’t mean when we’ve pushed our day too far.
Unrealistically Perfect Expectations
Physically we try harder. We want to look good, feel good about the way we look and look as good as we feel. But we already know…there is no such thing as perfect. That is only in magazines and exaggerated stories and unreal images in our heads.
And to add to it all, knowing all of our own faults and shortcomings, we can’t even be in the presence of our Heavenly Father if we are not perfect. Did you know that God, who is perfect, cannot have anything imperfect in His presence?
Imagine a pure glass of water. There are no impurities in it. One little speck of dirt (imperfection) in it makes the water impure. God is the pure glass of water. We are the little speck of dirt. So we can’t be allowed to be in God’s presence. All kinds of parallels here from the Old Testament and in life, but that’s for another blog post.
No One Is Perfect – For All Have Sinned
Because of sin (falling short and being imperfect), we are eternally separated from our Father in Heaven. But God! But God created a plan to make us perfect. He created a plan to cleanse us from our sin, thus making us perfect!
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 3:23 NIV
You see, the penalty of sin is death. Not just death here on earth. But the death sin causes is the kind of death that means eternal separation from God. That means, not going to heaven. So the penalty we pay for our sin is eternal separation from God (spiritual death).
So the only way for mankind to go to heaven is if someone pays our penalty for us. But it can’t be just anyone. It has to be someone who is perfect. God can only accept a perfect sacrifice. The blood from that perfect sacrifice is what cleanses us from our sin. So if we accept what Jesus did on our behalf, and ask Him to save us (be our Savior) and to be Lord of our life, then His blood does indeed cleanse us.
God’s Perfect Grace
Now our heavenly Father sees us through Jesus. He sees us through the blood of Jesus. So now, somehow, when He looks at us He sees us without sin. He sees us as perfect. So now, because of Jesus and with Jesus, we are living the perfect life.
Challenge of the Day: Live the perfect life. Jesus was that perfect sacrifice and now God sees you through the sacrifice Jesus made for you. So now walk with Jesus. His perfect love has made us perfect (made us completely free from our faults or defects). He has given you eternal life. So be it!
