Reproducible Results

Blessed [anticipating God’s presence, spiritually mature] are the pure in heart [those with integrity, moral courage, and godly character], for they will see God. (Matthew 5:8)

It is one thing to live an 'upright' life by this world's standards - it is quite another to allow God to establish the standards for one's life. When God set out his standards in his Word, he was giving us a framework by which we were to conduct our daily affairs, as well as come into and enjoy the relationship we have with him. Thinking of a standard as a guideline or a boundary, we can begin to imagine how important it is for us to have the right 'footprint' to follow. In my woodworking set-up, I have some 'templates' that I can place over the wood I am cutting, allowing me to reproduce a certain design each time. In much the same way, God's Word is a template by which he can reproduce his design in our lives time and time again.

Purity of heart isn't achieved easily - integrity requires consistency (something we might just lack a bit). The 'moral courage' it takes to stand up for the standards of God is sometimes a bit harder because of the lack of those standards in societal norms of our day. As I have frequently said, what is tolerated in one generation will become the norm of the next. The more we deviate from the standards God has given us in his Word, the more we are paving the path for a new set of 'standards' by which others who come after us will live their lives. Whenever God's people deviated from his standards, it brought some element of unwanted disaster or hardship into their lives. They faced armies greater than theirs, humiliation on the battlefield, and ultimately, they were taken captive.

The godly character produced whenever we take his standards as 'templates' by which we live our lives each and every day isn't just a 'feel good' moment. It is a consistent, day after day intake of his grace, attentiveness to his instructions, and willingness to lay down our own opinions of how life should unfold and embracing all that he will unfold within us. What happens when this type of consistency and adherence to his standards becomes the 'norm' within our lives? We will see his actions 'reproduced' over and over again through our own actions toward others. It makes sense to follow the template when we want 'reproducible' results, doesn't it? Just askin...