Recently we obtained some new neighbours and it was decided that because the old fence between our two properties wouldn’t contain a dog they plan to get, we would replace it. Rather than pay a contractor we would do it ourselves and save a heap of money. It didn’t take us long to pull down the old one and I was reminded of the old adage, never pull down a fence till you know why it was put up. That wasn’t much of an issue with respect to this boundary marker, but fences come in all sorts. God has put fences around many things, and we would be foolish to pull them down.
It was easier to pull down the old fence than build the new one, just like Whelan the Wrecker can knock a building down with a wrecking ball in quicker time than a builder can build a new structure. It’s easier to wreck a reputation than build one, but I digress. The job-site looked busy: we had all the necessary tools out – crowbar, shovels, hammers, cement, water, steel, sheeting, screws, screwdrivers etc. But there were a few things that were so important to the success of the job: string-line, level, and tape. The string-line was essential to keeping the fence straight, the level for establishing the perpendicular and horizontal, and the tape for distances.
As posts were cemented in place and the fence-line began to emerge, we were running our eye down the row to see if the posts were straight in line and the tops were equal in height. More than once the old saw was quoted; a blind man on a galloping horse at midnight would think that was alright!
In Amos 7 we have the prophet interceding for the nation of Israel when God had a mind to punish the nation for her gross disobedience. In verses 7,8 he paints a picture of God standing upon a wall which had been built straight by a plumb-line, with a plumb-line in his hand, as it were, checking to see if the wall was still straight (which it wasn’t). God’s patience had run out. God built Israel and He measured Israel. He would know if it was not straight. He built it with a covenant and the church was built by God with a new covenant.
I had a friend who used to go door-knocking with a carpenter’s tape on his belt. People would see it and wonder why he had it. His answer was a cryptic This is to see how you measure up!. I tried carrying one a few times but for some reason people wouldn’t notice it. I even used the biggest tape with the brightest fluro colour I had but people would just ignore it!. So I would ask them to guess the width of their doorway. Puzzled, they would give their estimation and then I would have a guess (I would always make it different from theirs). Then I would ask, “how could we ever see who was right or who was closest?” Then I would whip the tape of my belt and measure the doorway. End of argument. We both agreed that the tape was the standard and not our estimations. Our opinions were not on the same standing as the tape measure. Then I would make my point and explain that the Bible is not in the same league as our opinions and guesses.
God has a plumb-line and it is His word. How do we use it? How careful are we? So many have the approach “Good enough for this job”, or “near enough is close enough”. But it will not be a blind man on a galloping horse doing the judging on that day. It will be one on a horse (Rev. 19:11) but with eyes that penetrate to the marrow (Rev. 1:14). His word will be the standard (John 12:48). Judgement Day will not be a doddle. There will be no ‘marking on the curve’ or ‘getting a passing grade’, neither being ‘about average’ will cut it.
The first thing that should come to mind is the need for Christ’s death. If being found righteous on judgment day is simply a matter of being “one of the good guys” and having more good points than bad points, why did Jesus have to die? Paul raises this consideration in Gal. 2:21. (Coker’s translation reads like this If one can go to Heaven by being good enough then Christ died in vain). Passing grade on judgment is perfection, but who’s perfect? Only those who have cleansed their soul in the blood of the Lamb and abide in Him will be found righteous on that day. Only those who have obeyed the truth and abide in it will pass judgment. How is it with you? When God runs the plumb-line of His word against you, how do you measure up?
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