Jesus has been the only person on earth who ever achieved perfection. But, what does it mean to be perfect as it relates to God anyway? Admittedly, in reading my Bible today, I noticed more than before that Jesus "achieved" perfection, meaning he had to work towards it.
Hebrews 5:8-9 says that "although he was the Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered and having been made perfect he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him." I found this sentence very interesting and a light bulb went on for me. The passage says that Jesus "learned" obedience and was "made" perfect. Not that he was always perfect. So, I wondered, at what point, then, did he become perfect or arrive at perfection? And, how did he achieve it? Did he get to the point where he knew and followed all of the commandments or was it something else? And, what then is the expectation for us as believers. I think his perfection had to do with something greater than following a set of rules. His perfection, I believe, came at the point where he was completely obedient and trusting of God. And, our task is the same!
Unless we arrive here with all knowledge in our heads, which I'm sure none of us do, we must learn everything. We learn something either by spending the necessary time studying and practicing it, or we learn by experience (as children do) - do it, bet burned, do it differently. Either way, there is striving and suffering that is involved. As I read the passage… it became clear to me that contrary to what I have believed for so many years - that Jesus did nothing wrong ever - the truth is that his perfection was achieved in his complete obedience to God. And, as we all should know, obedience to and complete trust in God takes practice. We have to learn to be obedient and through our experiences we learn to trust more and more on God. We don't always get it right. And, while I'm not saying the Jesus was ever disobedient (the bible never says that) I would think that the humanness of Jesus had to learn and practice being obedient. Practicing anything to the point of perfection is tough…
So what does this have to do with getting to my destiny? Well… for so long i have been so focused on making sure I "do the right thing". I've gotta follow the rules. I can't make a mistake. I've got to be perfect! Living this way is stressful because I can never reach that type of perfection. And, in all honesty, "right" is relative. If "right" wasn't relative, there would be no struggle. if what is "right" were so cut and dry and black and white there would be no disagreements between two people, two groups, two nations acting in the name of good. No, what I believe is most important now is to do what we are led by God to do. To act in obedience. Much time is wasted when we are not obedient. Much stress is experienced when we try to do what others say is the right thing for us to do versus we believe and know God is saying for us to do.
As I continue on my journey, I'm going to practice being perfect. Not man's view of what is perfect but God's view of what is perfect. I will struggle to practice my obedience and trust in God. I think by doing that I can much more quickly get to the destination intended for me. That will be the only perfection for which I am striving.
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