What Is Your Standard?
I have been trying to order new glasses and thought I would try one of the online places. There is a problem I am having. I am used to using inches and feet when I measure something. They want to know what the metric measurement is. I’m old and not afraid to admit it! I haven’t learned the conversion ratio (we didn’t learn that when I went to school). Yes, I can get it by using the computer or my iphone and have done that.
This got me to thinking about how important standard measurements are. When we go to buy lumber, we used the standard: 12 inches equals one foot. If someone used something other than that, the measurement will not be what we need.
This also carries over to the spiritual world as well. What standard do we use in religious matters? Do we go by what culture dictates? Do we go by our feelings? Do we go by following our parents and the religion they chose? Do we follow what some preacher tells us? What should we use?
Peter tells us in 1 Peter 1:23, “for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable, but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.” In 1 Peter 1:25, he informed his readers (and us), “But the word of the Lord endures forever. And this is the word which was preached to you.” (NASB) Therefore, the Word of God, the Bible, the Holy Scriptures must be the only guide we use.
The Word of God changes culture to follow God. Our feelings can betray us. I must choose to have a faith of my own, not what my parents have or had. And sometimes preachers don’t always teach what God says to do. (Read 2 Peter to see him talk of false teachers).
It is so much better to look at what God’s inspired men wrote as the Holy Spirit revealed it to them. After determining what they said to do, it is then important to make sure we are following those things—even if we must make some changes in our lives. We will not be judged one day by culture, feelings, parents, or preachers. Listen to Jesus in John 12:48, “He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day.”
So I ask you again, what is your standard when it comes to religious matters? If you are not following only the Bible, you may be lost. And our God does not want anyone to perish but to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). Read your Bible to find God’s truth and direction for your life.