The Plumbline

"Look beneath the surface so you can judge correctly.” (John 7:24) These words struck me this morning as I was reading the account of Jesus going up to the Feast of Tabernacles and the people hearing his message, amazed at his depth of teaching though he was not a 'scholar' of the Law of Moses. They are in awe of his wisdom and well-grounded instruction, but miss the point that he is the living, breathing Messiah. Jesus assures them his message is not his own but comes from is Father - "Anyone who wants to do the will of God will know whether my teaching is from God or is merely my own. Those who speak for themselves want glory only for themselves, but a person who seeks to honor the one who sent him speaks truth, not lies." (vs. 17-18) Though speaking the truth, they could only see the things they knew about Jesus - that he was a son of Joseph, a carpenter, born into a village without nobility or honor. They could not see beneath the surface, so they were not

Wise words come from people of understanding.  People of understanding are able to speak of a situation in a completely different manner because they grasp the meaning of the situation.  The fool just cannot get the same grasp on the circumstances of life - they might babble on a lot, but the things they speak really don't bring clarity, or shed much light on the matter.  A fool cannot size up the situation because a fool seldom learns from his past experiences.  As if to point out the difference between the fool and the wise, the writer of Proverbs pens these words:   The road to life is a disciplined life;   ignore correction and you’re lost for good. (10:17 MSG)  In order to walk in the pathway of life, we must accept discipline (correction).  The fool has a hard time with this - so they repeat the mistakes they've made over and over again.  If we want to live "rich" lives, we need to embrace discipline - for discipline is the road to true "richness".

Counterfeit - not genuine; purposely set forth so as to look like the original, but pretend in all ways.  Wow!  I have to ask myself how many times I have put forth "counterfeit" love - you know, the kind where I tell someone something, but I honestly mean something quite different from what I tell them!  I think there are times when we are just not honest with ourselves, let alone others.  We put up a good front, for one reason or another, but really it is still a "front" - it is pretend.  The problem with "pretend" is not in the amount of sincerity behind the "front", but in the intense work it takes to maintain the front! The whole point of what we’re urging is simply  love —love uncontaminated by self-interest and counterfeit faith, a life open to God. Those who fail to keep to this point soon wander off into cul-de-sacs of gossip. They set themselves up as experts on religious issues, but haven’t the remotest idea of what they’re holding f

We are almost done with our exploration of the character traits God desires to work into our lives.  As you may have well imagined, this list is far from complete, even with the ones I have listed along the way.  In fact, you probably thought of a few in the list which I did not mention - it is okay, because God is probably expanding that list for each of us as we explore these traits.  This was a starting point for us to consider how it is God builds character within - a starting point of beginning the moving from just knowledge in our heads about what God wants us to do into a place of allowing God to actually do it within!  As we explore our "T" List today, I chose just two traits:  Temperance and Truthfulness.  How we define temperance today is probably a little different than they did in the days of King James, but generally it means moderation.  It is the ability to exhibit a little self-restraint, especially where it applies to any of our "natural" appetites.