Spelling Bee

If one is open for a good dose of humility watching the Scripps National Spelling Bee on ESPN is the perfect cure.  “Minauderies” is so obscure my spellchecker flagged it, yet an eleven-year-old correctly spelled it with the ease that we spell our names.   Nothing less than perfection is required.  There are no second tries.  There is no grace.  Replace an “a” with an “o” or an “i” with an “e” and you hear the dreaded bell.  You are history.

Perfection is a goal Jesus holds up for us in the Sermon on the Mount.  However, Jesus spent so much time with sinners, hookers and His disciples.  He knows we can’t do it. He moved with a rough crowd.  He was no stranger to drunks, thieves and riffraff.  He could have moved with the even rougher crowd of priests and religious leaders but He knew where His limited time would be better spent.  He knows us. “For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.  Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”  Hebrews 2.

It is true that salvation requires perfection but this amazing Jesus was perfect in the midst of all that garbage and because He loves us and understands us He offers His perfection to substitute for us.  It is a gift.  Please see Ephesians 2.

Written by Roger Bothwell on May 31, 2013

Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574

Rogerbothwell.org