“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” — Isaiah 55:9
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You’ll often hear the saying, “Practice makes perfect.” The lesson to be learned from this frequently repeated phrase is a helpful one: that we should all regularly perform some action or habit we want to improve in our lives. It’s why professional athletes spend so much time practicing, so that when they get to the games, they’ll be at their best.
But did Babe Ruth ever strike out? Did Michael Jordan ever miss a shot? Did Tom Brady ever throw an interception? Even the best athletes of all time were far from perfect, no matter how much they practiced, and we would never expect them to be. Even you and I could hit a baseball if it were pitched slow enough, make a shot if we stood close enough, or completed a pass if we had enough time. Their greatness is at least understandable to us.
Not so with God. He is “holy, holy, holy” as Revelation 4:8 says. To be holy is to be set apart — to be fundamentally distinct from everything else. God is truly perfect, unlike anything else we know. So great that He created the universe with a word; so great that a sinful human couldn’t see Him and live; so great that death and decay listen to Him.
How could people as small and limited as you and me really know a God so perfect?
Because Jesus, God Himself, became a man and dwelt among us in this fallen world. He revealed to us the nature of God, He performed miraculous works and healing, and He gave us glimpses of what the Kingdom of God is like.
What’s more, He has purchased eternal life with God for every one of His children. He took our sins upon Himself and paid the price for them with His death on the cross, rising again in triumph on the third day. In exchange, He gave us His perfect righteousness so that we may be in God’s holy presence for all eternity.
This is the Gospel, and this is the perfection that all of us long for. The greatness we see on the field, in the gym or anywhere else in the world does nothing but point to the true greatness — the perfection — of the God we serve.
He has made it possible to know Him. Seek Him today, for there’s no greater joy.
— Kevin Mercer
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