Precise Measurements

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 ¼ cups of rice, 1 can of chicken broth, 1 package of soup; all the ingredients were carefully measured and were sitting on my counter. I rechecked the measurements with the recipe just to make sure I had read it correctly and then I combined everything.  As I mixed all these together, I couldn’t help but be amazed at the cooking process.  Here I was reading a recipe from someone I had never met, living in a distant place I had never heard of, whose name I didn’t even know.  Yet this person was giving me precise measurements for the ingredients in a casserole dish I was preparing.

As I continued to think about those instructions, an interesting thought came to mind.  Was my 1 ¼ cups of rice the same as the author’s measurement?  How could I be sure that we both were using the same standard of measure?  I mean was 1 ¼ cups in Texas the same as 1 ¼ cups somewhere else?  It had to be.  Somewhere along the line someone set the standard of measure for the measuring cup and every measurement of every recipe has referred to this precise quantity ever since.

This led to another question for me.  What standard am I using in my spiritual life?  How does my standard of measure for obeying God compare with God’s standard of measure? If I do not measure things according to God’s standard, then I will always miss the mark and my work will continually be underdone or lacking in some area.  One thing is for sure, it will never be right because I am not following God’s recipe and using his standard of measure.

A man named Achan serves as our example of not applying God’s measurement to our lives.  When the Children of Israel entered the Promised Land, the first city they destroyed was Jericho.  God’s instructions were clear.  They were to walk around the city one time for six days.  On the seventh day they were to march around seven times and with a loud shout they were to take the city as its walls collapsed.  Everything in the city was to be destroyed because it had been devoted to the Lord.  Joshua gives these instructions in regards to the gold and silver, “All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the Lord and must go into his treasury” (Joshua 3:19).

God’s measurement here was “all.”  All the precious metals were to be set aside to the Lord.  Achan however, coveted 5 pounds (200 shekels) of silver, 1 ¼ pounds (50 shekels) of gold, and a robe.  He took these for his own and buried them in his tent.  Because of his actions, Israel was not successful in her attempt to capture the second city, Ai. When it was discovered that Achan had withheld some of the plunder, he paid with his life. Look at all the suffering that occurred because one man withheld a robe and a mere 6 pounds of metal!  When God says “all,” he means “all,” period!

The lesson from Achan’s story is clear for us today.  God wants our all, everything we have and the best of our efforts.  He is neither satisfied nor interested in anything less than our complete devotion to his will.  When we withhold from him in any aspect of our lives, we lose our ability to be effective witnesses for him.  We also fall into disobedience and our spiritual walk suffers for it.  Our disobedience also affects our relationships with those around us. We are incapable of being the blessing God intends for us to be in the lives of others.

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o, how do our lives measure up today? Are we following God’s instructions to the letter?  Are our standards of measure based on his word and his commands?  Does our idea of “total obedience” square with God’s idea? He has given us precise measurements for our relationship with him! So, are our lives overdone, lacking something or right on target?  Are we being "weighed in the balance and found wanting?” Think about it today!