Perfect? Next!

Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

Jesus said unto the people  “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Luke 18 verse 10 - 14).

If Christ comes knocking on your door today and you think you don’t need him because you are ‘perfect’ as you are, he will simply move on to the next person.

Also, if you look at yourself, maybe even your past, and you think you don’t deserve Christ’s mercy. Maybe you believe you are too far gone into the world and cannot be redeemed. The fact that you acknowledge that you are imperfect, is a good way to let you know that you need Christ.

Or maybe it’s the other side of the coin; the Holy Spirit has been drawing your mind to a neighbour, a friend, or maybe family member, but No! you say, this person has gone too deep into the world. He can never be redeemed; I can’t even imagine him giving his life to Christ!

The truth is this, if the world was full of ‘perfect’ people, then the world won’t need Christ. Jesus will not have to die for our sins, he will not have to pray for us, and what we know as salvation today would not even exist!

You know how we look at a lady and say.. Oh! She is a wife material. There is nothing like ‘heaven material’. That thing you see about yourself or that other person today that makes you say no way! Is the same thing God looks at and says Yes! There is a way.

Heaven is not for perfect people, it's for people who have been made perfect in Christ. Imperfect? Yes!