Benefit of having the best example

In the Bible, there are many individuals whom we can admire for their dedication in serving God. And the same is true in church history. Yet usually when we reflect on their lives we either consider a strong point they possessed or a spiritual mistake that they committed.

One of the problems that comes from focusing on them is that we can feel guilty because we do show the same dedication or the same degree of repentance. I have often been told in a sermon that Martin Luther prayed for three hours a day. I feel guilty because I don’t come up to Martin’s standards. Of course, the point of highlighting this detail in his spiritual life is rendered a bit pointless when I recall Paul’s instruction that we are to pray without ceasing. In any case, dear Martin cannot do anything for me about my failure to live up to his standard.

Or we can read the psalms and observe the intensity with which the authors expressed the horror they felt because of their sins. When I use their words, I sense I don’t have the degree of insight that they had. Of course, I tend to forget that they wrote their psalms after they had been forgiven for their falls and not during their times of backsliding or temptation.

I would say that we make a big mistake when we focus on the spiritual strengths of individuals instead of focusing on the God who provided them with the grace to become the people they were. Who made a Luther a man of prayer? God did. Who can make me a man of prayer? God. Who led the psalmists to confess their sins heartily? God did. Who can enable me to confess my sins? God. Our expectant eyes should be on the God who gives grace and not on the isolated activities of his people.

Which leads us to think of who is our example. Paul wrote that we should follow him in as far as he followed Christ. The author of Hebrews, after writing chapter 11 about the heroes of the faith, tells us to fix our eyes on the example of Christ. Strangely, Jesus is our example although he is perfect. He is our example in that at every moment he wanted to serve God from the heart whatever the situation. And unlike Luther and the psalmists, he can do something for us when we fail to come up to his standard. He can forgive us because he did and does for us what all the heroes of the faith could not do - he died for our sins, he pardons our sins, and he takes us to heaven. And by speaking to him about such details as often as we can, we may find that we can pray without ceasing.