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.