The Plumb Line

I have the privilege of teaching a women’s Bible study.
For many years now, it has been one of my great joys.
To open the word of God, to dig deep, and to learn about Jesus is a great gift.
It is one we tend to take for granted.

Some of the same women have been coming to these Bible studies for years.
We have grown together.
We have prayed for each other.
We have shed tears together.

We have lived out the Titus 2 passage in God’s Word.

Likewise teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God. (Titus 2:3-5)

The older teaching the younger.
The one who has walked helping the one who is still walking.
Sharing wisdom with those newer in the faith.
Spurring them on, teaching them how to follow Christ.

It is not just my job as teacher.
It is something we are all commanded to do.
We do not live on an island.
We are to live in community.

Community can be tricky.
So many different backgrounds.
So many different ways each of us were raised.
There has to be a plumb line that we use as our guide.

There has to be some standard by which we measure.
Something immovable, unchangeable, permanent upon which we can stand.
That something cannot be man made.
It cannot be something we think up on our own.

If personal opinion were our plumb line, it would be incredibly arbitrary.
We would bring our own preferences to the table.
We would each stand on our way of doing things.
We would argue that our way is best.

That cannot be.

How could we measure anything without a ruler?
How could we find our way if the compass refused to point north?
How could we trust anything if our day suddenly shortened to 23 hours?
How could we solve the simplest calculation if 2 + 2 failed to equal 4?

We laugh at the absurdity of those seemingly random questions.
However, if we take our relativism to its logical conclusion, we live like that every day.

We expect gravity to hold us down so that we will not float like astronauts in space.
We expect fall to follow summer, with winter and spring right behind.
We know that water will freeze at thirty-two degrees.
We expect that morning will follow evening.

We live in the day-to-day believing in some absolutes.
We imagine that the “absolute-ness” of other things is up for grabs.
We expect truth to be fluid not rigid.
But plumb lines are not gossamer threads blowing in the breeze.

According to the dictionary, a plumb line a tool that consists of a small, heavy object attached to a string or rope that is used especially to see if something (such as a wall) is perfectly vertical.

Put another way, it is a line that is directed to the center of gravity of the earth.
Paraphrased, it is a line holding you down to make sure you are pointing up.
I like that thought.
I need to be held down so that I don’t fly off somewhere.

I could easily fly off in my own thoughts.
I could easily fly off and argue that I am really pointing the right way, so says me!
Fortunately, the plumb line makes sure my vertical is indeed vertical.
The Plumb Line makes sure my vertical points to God.

God will speak to His people, to whom He said, “This is the resting place, let the weary rest,” and, “This is the place of repose,” but they would not listen. So then the word of the Lord to them will become: Do and do, do and do, rule on rule, rule on rule; a little here, a little there…for we have made a lie our refuge and falsehood our hiding place. So this is what the Sovereign Lord says, “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed. I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line…” (Isaiah 28:11-13,15-17)

God sets the plumb line.
The plumb line is righteousness.
God’s righteousness.
Righteousness that is immovable, unchangeable, permanent, upon which we can stand.

Truth is not arbitrary.
God’s truth is the plumb line on which we base our life.
God’s truth is the anchor on which we hold fast.
God’s truth is the weighted line that keeps us centered so when we point up, we point UP.

Rejoice in the plumb line of God’s word.
Rejoice that you can count on it no matter what.
Rejoice that it is sure and steady and the Rock on which we stand.
Jesus is the Word and He can be trusted.

That is why I love the word of God.
That is why I need the word of God.
That is why I love to teach the word of God.
For life and practice and to point others to the absolute Truth.