Perspective Change

My floors creak.
Not all of them, just the floor in the kitchen.
The area between my kitchen and my dining room has the worst creak of all.
That area happens to be where I stand when I teach Bible study in my home.

Any movement on my part causes the floors to creak.
I remember when we got a new kitchen floor many years ago.
My husband wanted to place screws every few inches on the sub-flooring to stop the creaking.
The installers laid the sub-flooring one day and were coming back to finish the next day.

They strongly suggested that my husband not place any screws on the sub-floor.
They feared that the screws may pop up through the new floor.
My husband did not agree with them but because of the installation warranty, he listened.
I think my husband had been right; the floor still creaks in the same area all these years later.

It was not until I went through an old, historic house that I noticed it.
The floors creaked.
The wide planked floors creaked everywhere I walked.
I thought it was charming since it added to the character of the home.

As I drove home, I wondered a few things.
Why was a creaking floor in a historic house, charming?
Why was the same creaking floor in my own house annoying?
I could not answer that right away.

I love showers.
The hot water feels so good on my back.
I like showers more than baths.
There is just something so rejuvenating about the water falling down on me.

I do not like to get caught in the rain.
It is fine if I have an umbrella.
It is even better if I have a hood for my head.
I wondered why showers were fine but being caught in the rain was not.

My mother used to always say, You can’t kid a kidder.
There were people who enjoyed a practical joke or participation in a good prank.
However, if the tables were turned and the joke was on them, they became angry.
My mother’s words proved true.

I decided that it must be a matter of perspective.
If it is my house that creaks, it is not so charming.
If it is my clothes that are getting wet in the rain, it is a bit annoying.
If the tables are turned and a practical joker is teased, you have to be ready for some push back.

Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.” “Which ones?” he inquired. Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’ ” “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?” Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”  Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:16-26)

The rich young man asked Jesus what he must do to get eternal life.
Jesus answered that the young man must obey the commandments.
The young man persisted and asked Jesus which commandments he needed to obey.
Jesus listed commandments number 6, 7, 8, 9, and 5 respectively.

All these I have kept. What do I still lack?
Sell your possessions and give to the poor and then you will have treasures in heaven.
Then come, follow Me.
The young man went away sad because he had great wealth.

Perspective.
It was fine for the young man to hear the list of commandments that Jesus gave to him.
I can do that, he must have thought.
I can check those things off my clipboard and earn my way into heaven.

Only Jesus turned the tables, very shrewdly.
The Law was given to point us to our need for a Savior.
The Law was never meant to save in and of itself.
The young man said he kept all the commandments but he was mistaken.

The young man broke the most important one.

I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me. (Exodus 20:2,3)

The young man had his wealth as his god.
The young man put his possessions before the Lord.
The young man did not keep all the commandments, though he thought he did.
The young man compared himself to a human standard and thought he was doing fine.

God measures us against His holy and perfect standard.
We do not measure up.
We never can measure up on our own.
However, there is One who measures up; who perfectly obeyed His Father and never sinned.

We think we do pretty good when we compare ourselves to someone else.
However, if we change our perspective and compare ourselves to Jesus, we always fall short.
Our natural perspective is wrong.
We measure ourselves against a human standard; we need to measure against God’s standards.

The rich young man thought he was doing a good job.
He did not realize that he had been serving another god all along.
Jesus’ answer to him left the door open.
The door was open so that the young man could ponder Jesus’ words and follow Him.

Such grace.
We all need a change in perspective.
The truth is there before us in God’s Word.
The door is open.