Which Comes First Perfection or Dedication?

 

Which Comes First Perfection or Dedication?

 

We live in a material world

It is all about looks

We spend a lot of Time and Money to look good

Money on cars, clothes, homes and furnishings, make-up, tattoos, and toys

Then we take pictures to post on the internet

We then look for “Likes” and comments to make us feel accepted and good

Many of us are wannabes

We will work hard at looking the part, but never become the image

Or, we have gotten to a point

Where we try to convince others not looking good is good

Perfection doesn’t happen with a coat of paint

Matthew 23:27-28

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

 

Which Comes First Perfection or Dedication?

 

Many of us are perfectionist.

 

We strive to be perfect in what we do.

 

I have been one of those perfectionists.

 

One day I was working on remodeling

a house for church offices.

 

There were about 6 - 7 others

helping with the work.

 

I was working on some wall framing

and wanted it just right.

 

A few of the workers were watching me and said…

 

 “Bill, nobody is going to notice in a year from now

and the drywall will cover up all your work.”

 

At the time, those words cut,

 but I knew they were true.

 

Being dedicated to perfection was not the goal.

 

Some of us are dedicated to perfection…

 

Feeling down and disappointed

when we make a mistake.

 

This might sound strange…

 

 But God does not want you

to be dedicated to perfection.

 

Doing things right and getting better at it,

is good and makes us feel good.

 

But perfection should not be our goal.

 

Think about it…

 

 Is God looking for your works of perfection?

 

If so, than this verse really hurts…

 

Isaiah 64:6…

 

All of us have become like one who is unclean,

and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;

 

Don’t get me wrong…

 

 God wants perfection from us.

 

Matthew 5:48…

 

Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

 

But as the next verse says…

 

Matthew 6:1…

 

"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men,

to be seen by them.

If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

 

God is looking for perfection

or acts of righteousness…

 

 But not to make us right before Him.

 

So, what is God looking for?

 

God is looking for something we all can do.

 

Something not based on your looks, wealth or abilities.

 

God is looking for “Dedication”.

 

When Jesus walked on earth,

He gave two words to people…

 

“Follow Me”

 

These words were not light words like…

 

“I will show you the way to the bathroom”.

 

Jesus said to the crowd and disciples….

 

Mark 8:34-38…

 

 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation,

the Son of Man will be ashamed of him

when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."

 

It has been said Matthew 28:18

is Jesus’ last command our first concern?

 

Matthew 28:19-20…

 

 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

 

Make disciples,

 followers of Jesus…

 

That is dedication.

 

When we get to heaven

there won’t be room for anyone to boast.

 

The Kingdom of Heaven will not

be like this material world.

 

We will not be focused on how good we look…

 

And neither will God be concerned

on how good you look.

 

So, what will Heaven be like?

 

It will be focused on how good God looks.

 

All the glory, honor and praise

will be focused on Him.

 

So, who will be in Heaven?

 

Dedicated people…

 

 Dedicated to Jesus Christ.

 

Dedication takes faith.

 

The Kingdom of Heaven would cease

being heaven if Jesus is not LORD.

 

The Kingdom of Heaven is

and will be wonderful…

 

Because those who enter through its gates

are dedicated to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

 

Those invited to Heaven are not

the perfect, but the dedicated.

 

This is why Jesus says

at the end of the story of the two sons…

 

Matthew 21:31-32…

 

"Which of the two did what his father wanted?"

"The first," they answered.

 

Jesus said to them,

"I tell you the truth, the tax collectors

and the prostitutes are entering the Kingdom of God ahead of you.

 

How about you and I…

 

Are we living the dedicated life now

that is required in heaven?

 

 

Scripture Reading

 

Romans 12:1-2 MSG

 

12 So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life — your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life — and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. 2 Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

(from THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language © 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved.)

 

 

1 Kings 8:54-61 NIV

 

54 When Solomon had finished all these prayers and supplications to the Lord, he rose from before the altar of the Lord, where he had been kneeling with his hands spread out toward heaven. 55 He stood and blessed the whole assembly of Israel in a loud voice, saying:

 

56 "Praise be to the Lord, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses. 57 May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our fathers; may he never leave us nor forsake us. 58 May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep the commands, decrees and regulations he gave our fathers. 59 And may these words of mine, which I have prayed before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, that he may uphold the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel according to each day's need, 60 so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God and that there is no other. 61 But your hearts must be fully committed to the Lord our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands, as at this time."