SIN,
STANDARD OF

ONE day there was a tall man’s parade in the army. In the tall man’s parade, you had to be a certain height to be in the parade. In this particular bunk, there were three guys who wanted to go out and be a part of the parade. One was named Chubby. He was kind of short and plump. Another was named Jim. He was sort of midsized. The tallest of these three was named Slim, and he was fairly tall.

Well, the officer came in and he put a mark on the door. The three guys had to back themselves up against the door to determine whether they could be in the tall man’s parade. Chubby looked at the mark and he didn’t even bother to stand by the door. He knew it was too high and he would never qualify. Jim figured he would give it a try. He backed up against the door, but alas, he was too short. Slim began to laugh at Chubby. “You tub of short fatness! You just couldn’t make it to the mark, could you? Sorry, Jim. You just didn’t have enough genetic support, huh?” Slim confidently backed himself up against the mark of the door.

The officer stopped by to check Slim’s height. “Sorry, Slim. You are one-eighth of an inch too short.”

“But wait a minute, what do you mean? I’m taller than Chubby!”

“I know, but you’re too short for the parade.”

“But I’m taller than Jim!”

“You’re right, but you’re too short for the parade.”

“But, I’m only a fraction of an inch too short!”

The officer said, “You might as well be two feet too short! We can’t reduce the standard even if it’s by one-eighth of an inch.”

You may be taller than your neighbor, but you’re too short for God. You may be taller than your co-worker, but you’re too short for God. You may be only one-eighth of an inch too short, but since God’s glory and His righteousness requires perfection, you might as well be a criminal on death row. When it comes to the standard of God, nothing short of perfection is acceptable. Your best in the face of a holy God adds up to be zero.865

[God’s Standard; Grace, Need for]

John 14:6; Rom. 3:23; Eph. 2:8–9