The Paragon

    We all know people worthy of respect, and whose example we rightly seek to follow.  "Be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises" (Hebrews 6:12).  Let us thank God for those people in our lives whose attitudes, words, and actions honor the Lord Jesus Christ, and whose footsteps help to illuminate the path Scripture calls us to tread in faith and obedience.

    We do well, however, to remember that human beings possess feet of clay that sometimes falter and even crumble along the way.  Those whom we honor most highly would quickly disappoint us if we could witness the entirety of their internal and external existence.  Human beings, including the most godly among us, dwell in tents of flesh that flap in worldly winds, and that must sometimes be restored and reset after collapsing altogether.  "All we, like sheep, have gone astray" (Isaiah 53:6).

     One has perfectly traversed the path of righteousness, amid the many challenges and temptations that confront all who seek to walk its gilded way.  "We have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15).  The Lord Jesus alone will not disappoint us as we look to His example, and even more, as we trust in His fulfillment of the promise to enable us by His indwelling presence.  "I will dwell in them and walk in them" (II Corinthians 6:16).  There is a perfect Example to whom we can and must look with complete confidence.  Christ alone provides this abiding paragon of virtue, and this abiding presence of spiritual vitality.

    We look to many for inspirations of a life consistently lived for the glory of God and the blessing of others.  We look to only one One, however, for perfection concerning such a life.  We will save ourselves much disappointment as we remember this truth, and also take much pressure off those whose example we seek to emulate.  Most importantly, we will rightly direct our faith toward the only One worthy of our complete confidence, and thereby honor the only One worthy of our complete respect...

"The Lord alone shall be exalted in that day."
(Isaiah 2:11)

    

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Weekly Memory Verse    From the end of the earth will I cry unto Thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the Rock that is higher than I.
(Psalm 61:2)