Lessons from a Tape Measure

Matthew 16:24-26 (NLT)

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me.  If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.  And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?

 

The other day I was hanging pictures on the wall of our new house.  The one wall had a measurement that came to however many inches and 7/16.  I wanted to center the picture on the wall and did the math to halve the distance, coming up with however many inches and 7/32.  When it came time to measure it out on the wall to mark the placement I just rounded to 7/32 up to ¼ and said, “That’s close enough.”  So if you come to my house, one picture is not truly centered; I just won’t tell you which one.

            All too often I have the same attitude with God when He wants me to give Him all of some particular area of my life (not to mention all of it in general).  I give him everything except for that last 1/32 of an inch and say, “That’s close enough.”  In truth, I am usually saying anything within a foot is close enough.  God wants us to give him all of ourselves, even that last 1/32.

Judges 6:14-15 NLT

¹⁴ Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!”

¹⁵ “But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!”

 

The other day I was helping my friend Jason put insulation into the house that he is building.  During a break we went up to his porch, where he had a Remington .222 rifle for shooting groundhogs. 

I said, “How old is this thing?  I can tell it’s old but it looks really good.”

“I don’t know,” he replied, “but I know it’s old, because my grandpa used it to hunt deer.”

“That’s a pretty small caliber for hunting deer,” I said.

“My grandpa always said, ‘It’s not too small for where I shoot them all: right between the eyes.’”

All too often I tell God “No way! That’s too _______.  Guess what?  Not for Him.  He has a perfect plan for every situation.  Every time He shoots it hits right between the eyes.