My wife made an unusual discovery during a sewing project. Her tape measure was off ¼ inch per foot. Since her project involved cloth that was to be over 100 inches long and was to fit something measured with an accurate tape measure, the project would have been ruined if she hadn’t discovered the problem. She did the only sensible thing she could. She threw away the tape measure and used a more accurate rule.
Her tape measure was an expression of an ideal. A standard for one foot actually exists. When a particular tape measure doesn’t measure up to that standard, it is time to get a more accurate tape measure.
This experience in real life has a spiritual application. The questions for each of us go something like this. If what you believe about God isn’t true, would you want to know? If what you believe about God isn’t true, would you be willing to change?
The Bible gives us examples of people who are confronted with these questions. In Acts 26, Paul is making his defense before King Agrippa, but Paul places Agrippa on the defense by sharing the good news about Jesus. Paul asserts that Agrippa is a believer in the prophets. Most understand Agrippa’s question as a deflection: “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?” (Acts 26:28, ESV) The audience with Agrippa is over. Agrippa apparently doesn’t want to know.
Paul’s experience in Berea was different. When Paul preached in that city’s synagogue, Luke records this about the Bereans. “Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so” (Acts 17:11, ESV).
What happens when the ideas we have for faith and daily living don’t measure up to God’s word? I suspect it is much easier to throw away tangible tape measures, but it is more important to conform to the word of God even if it is harder to do. So the questions remain for each of us. If what I believe about God isn’t true, am I willing to know? If what I believe about God isn’t true, am I willing to change?
while today 