God Reflection:
My arrival onto planet earth was into a family DNA that distinguished right from wrong. As believers in God and followers of Jesus, good was valued while evil was condemned. No, I was not born into a perfect family. All families are flawed.
We humans aren’t exactly known for an unblemished record of right choices. So just how right do we have to be? Like you, I wouldn’t want to read the pages and pages of wrong thoughts, wrong attitudes, and wrong actions, accumulated over all the twenty-four-hour spans of the entirety of my life. Before we despair, we can thank Father, Son, and Spirit, for their gracious grace gift.
Once again, just how right must we be? As somewhat of a detail person, I give myself some slack. However, when it comes to dealing with people who score 25 on a detail scale of one to ten, I go nuts fast. 
If I can envision the first three or steps, I am good. As I work with God and the insight of others, steps four through ninety-nine usually appear along the trail of discovery.
I admit that I run the risk of interpreting God through my own wiring. I trust Him to give me some slack. The God I read about in the Bible never keeps His people in the dark as to His expectations. He leads as the good shepherd—always in search of green pasture and clear cool water.
In dealing with the children of Israel, God shares several chapters in the book of The Exodus and the entire book of Leviticus to spell out in infinite detail the law for the Israelites.
He wants them to enjoy deep grassland and cool streams that sustain life. Throughout the remainder of the Old Testament His message to the children of Israel is how much He loves them. Reverence, honor, and love are what He desires in return.
The storyline In the New Testament is again God’s love for humankind. That love shows supreme in the sacrificial gift to His children. The Four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, paint God’s expectations for me as demonstrated in the life of Jesus.
He wants me to love God with all my being and to love my neighbor as if he were me. I find portraits of that love in Jesus’ sermon on the Mountain.
The Acts and the letters of the New Testament introduce the Holy Spirit as He demonstrates God’s love and Jesus’s values in the daily life of the church. The New Testament omits the detail of Old-Covenant-law-keeping and proclaims God’s story of God’s grace.
There were times in my life when I used the analogy of a blueprint to show God’s New Testament expectations. I was wrong. God does not seem to be concerned with excess detail. He is concerned with an obedient heart. This is my current understanding of how God expects me to act:
- He wants me to love Him with all my heart, mind, and body.
- He wants me to accept Jesus as the atonement for all my sin.
- He wants me to live out Jesus’ values as I relate to others.
- He wants me to see Jesus the Son and be confident that I have seen God the Father.
I can envision the above four request as essential to become a Kingdom person. I am OK when I understand God wants my heart not my perfection. God lets me figure out steps to be more like Jesus as I proceed down the trail of discovery. If we live like that, shouldn’t whatever detail God desires flow naturally from our relation to Jesus as Lord?
The Acts and the letters show the church’s attempt to live out these values. When the church lived under His Lordship it was astoundingly successful. When the church failed to honor Jesus as King—calamity and chaos appeared. However, it was always Jesus’ church.
He never failed to claim those committed to Him even though they did not always get it right. That remains as God’s good news for us.
If we attempt to love God with all our heart and mind and accept Jesus as the one who forgives our
sin, by participation with Him in His death, burial, and resurrection through a watery grave we become God’s beloved children. We are family.
Like a good father He does not require perfection. He only desires that we love Him and attempt to live out His values. For me, the best part is—He gives me room to fail and grow without fear of rejection.
I can move forward with my God-wired creativity to help others see Jesus in His brightest and most attractive light. I am thankful God nailed the rules to the cross so I can freely serve the resurrected Jesus without worry that I will not be loved by The Holy because I fail to get everything right.
Stay tuned.
Gary Sorrells
A God Reflection on Just How Right Must I Be?
God Reflection 
Yes! Amém! E aleluia!
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