The Plumbline

Every now and again I get set very near a bar in a restaurant. What catches my eye while sitting there is the myriad of beautiful bottles into which those 'adult beverages' have been placed. There are bright blues, dark greens, tall and short bottles. Some carry labels stamped in red melted wax while others display ones with edges of gold. There are even those with little emblems on them. What is within those bottles is not always evident - if I had never been exposed to what a 'bar' serves, I might see those bottles as having something beautiful inside them. I would not know of the biting taste of some of those liquids, or the addictive power contained within. What is within is concealed by the loveliness of the bottle. I cannot ever be aware of the totality of a man by just reading the label he might display, my friends! Don't judge wine by its label, or its bouquet, or its full-bodied flavor. Judge it rather by the hangover it leaves you with—the splitting head...

Stop for a moment to consider the distance between here and there. If you are considering the distance between your forefinger and your nose, it is likely not further away than the end of your arm! If you are considering the distance between your home and a small island in the Pacific the distance may be two or three thousand miles. Consider the distance to Mars and your journey just got beyond what you have ever traveled before. Now, consider the distance between your guilt and your sin - it is likely a lot closer than you'd like it to be! When God's grace comes on the scene, though, that guilt and sin go through a separation far greater than any distance we are capable of understanding with our finite minds! Our sin is separated from us as far as the east is from the west. That includes the guilt associated with that sin - if we allow God to separate us from it at the same time he separates us from the sin. Too many times, we hold onto the guilt and go through some form of ...