A Higher Standard by Max Lucado

Most of my life, I’ve been a closet slob. I was slow to see the logic of neatness. Then I got married. Denalyn was so patient. She said she didn’t mind my habits… if I didn’t mind sleeping outside. Since I did, I began to change.

I rediscovered the muscles used for hanging shirts and placing the toilet paper on the holder. My nose was reintroduced to the fragrance of bathroom air fresheners. By the time Denalyn’s parents came to visit, I was a new man. I could go three days without throwing a sock behind the couch.

But then came the moment of truth. Denalyn went out of town for a week. Initially I reverted to the old man. I figured I’d be a slob for six days and clean out on the seventh. But something strange happened, a curious discomfort. I couldn’t relax with dirty dishes in the sink. When I saw an empty potato chip bag on the floor, I actually bent over and picked it up! And I put my bath towel back on the rack! What had happened to me?

Simple. I had been exposed to a higher standard.

Isn’t that what has happened with us? Isn’t that the heart of Paul’s argument (Romans 6:1-7)? How could we who have been freed from sin return to it? Before Christ, our lives were out of control, sloppy, indulgent. We didn’t even know we were slobs until we met Him.

Then He moved in. Things began to change. What we threw around we began putting away. What we neglected we cleaned up. What had been clutter became order. Oh, there were and still occasional lapses of thought and deed, but by and large He got our house in order.

Suddenly we find ourselves wanting to do good. Go back to the old mess? Are you kidding? “In the past you were slaves to sin – sin controlled you. But thank God, you fully obeyed the things that you were taught. You were made free from sin, and now you are slaves to goodness.” (Romans 6:17-18).

“For God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey Him and the power to do what pleases Him.”
Philippians 2:13 NLT


Excerpted from : Experiencing the Heart of Jesus. Book 1.
Max Lucado © 2003 OMF Literature Phil.
pp.186-187.