Lifespans and Plumblines Part 2

Mother Teresa was once asked, “How do you measure the success

of your work?”

She thought about the question and gave her interviewer a

puzzled look. “I don’t remember that the Lord ever spoke of success,”

she answered. “He spoke only of faithfulness in love. This is the only

success that really counts.” She reminded her enquirer that God

measures the effectiveness of a life not by earthly success, but by the

quality of that life in relationship to Him.

Time and again, the Bible reminds us that God’s instruments

are different. In His hand, we will not find a metre that measures

life- spans or earthly wealth or influence. Instead, He has a different

kind of measuring rod – one that measures in terms of justice and

righteousness. God declares through His prophet: “I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line” (Isaiah 28:17),

making it clear how He would measure a man – or for that matter, a

church or a nation.

God measures us not in terms of the material debris we collect

on the way, but by the moral integrity we learn to have by staying

close to Jesus. We are measured not by the busyness of our lives, but

by the faithfulness of our hearts and steps. We will be measured not by

how much we have accumulated or accomplished but by how much we

have become Christ-like in our walk with God. That is to say, we will be

assessed by how much we have allowed God to accomplish in our lives.

Pragmatic worldliness narrows and distorts our vision of what God

expects of us. We can go about our lives cutting the cloth according to

the wrong measure, lulling ourselves into thinking that we are fine (due

to the signs of apparent success in our lives), only to be rudely awakened

one day when we realise to our horror that it was a mistake all along.

The Lord Jesus warned his hearers that the day will come when

many will say, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and

in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?” Then

He will answer, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”

(Matthew 7:22-23).

We may think ourselves to be fine, expecting a strong

commendation from the Lord, thinking that the affirmations and

applause of this world are an echo of God’s approval. But we may be

deadly wrong. We may have used the wrong instruments to measure

our lives, and shredded pieces are all that are left.

How can we avoid such a shocking discovery when it is too late,

when God’s word to us may be “You have been weighed on the scales

and found wanting” (Daniel 5:27)? We must familiarise ourselves with

the way God measures us, and with the instruments He uses.

Divine measuring rods and plumblines gauge the inner contours of

our souls and the moral foundations of our daily choices and decisions.

They measure character and weigh faithfulness. How important it is to

know these things, and to do something about them before it is too late.

For Reflection: God measures character and weighs faithfulness. How can you

ensure that you are focusing on the right things and not wasting

your life and opportunities collecting meaningless worldly

debris?

What changes in your life may be necessary as a result

of your reflection? How does the church fall into worldliness

in adopting worldly standards and measures of success? What

antidotes can you think of for reversing this?