If The World Was Perfect, It Wouldn’t Be

I love that quote from the endearing Yogi Berra: “If the world was perfect, it wouldn’t be.”

We all get a kick out of Yogi when he says one of his “Yogi-isms” but this one has a lot of wisdom in it. It can be translated in a number of ways, but I take it to mean that if this world was perfect, it wouldn’t be this world: it would be the new world…that is the New Earth.

Juxtapose Yogi’s quote with this one from Dr. Wayne Dyer:

    “Everything is perfect in the universe – even your desire to improve it.”

Hitler had a desire to improve the world as he saw it – the need to eradicate the Jews from the face of the earth. So does Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran. Does Dr. Dyer think these madmen are perfect? Dr. Dyer seems to think you can trust “in your own inner nature.”

I know in my own case that is the worst thing I could do. The Prophet Jeremiah said:

    “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)

Why would any human try to attain perfection if it seems so impossible? Alexander Hamilton, founding father and author of much of the Federalist Papers, once said:

    “I never expect to see a perfect work from an imperfect man.”

So there is no need to expect perfection because no one is perfect.

Not so! God is perfect, His word is blameless, and we can all trust Him.

    “As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.” (Psalm 18:30)

Have you sought to be the perfect person or worse yet, sought the perfect person only to be sadly disappointed? There is a good reason for that; you’re expectations are too high!

God in the bodily form of His Son Jesus Christ was perfect in every way, without sin and yet was made our sin offering. This being true it would make sense to seek Him instead of you.

The Hebrew word for “way” is derek and it means “path” or “route” and by extension means “conduct, way of life.” King David when writing this psalm knew the Perfect One, the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ, and knew that the only way to live one’s life was in devotion to God. David had been disappointed in people before – many times! David could look at his Lord and know that God had never failed him, and because Jesus never fails us, which is a blessing onto us, we can walk a path that will never fail.

Okay so this sounds all fine and dandy but it is not working for me Bro Dave. That’s fair but let me ask you a question: how are you getting your daily dose of Jesus?

Is it only through this devotional?

Perhaps you listen to radio preachers on the way to work or you put in your favorite Christian music or tune in local Christian radio.

Maybe you read the “Our Daily Bread” devotional every day.

All of these are good ADDITIONS to God’s Word, the Holy Bible. Unfortunately too many people SUBSTITUTE the Bible with these aids.

God’s Word has been proven to be blameless, whether it be a promise made by God specifically or His Word in general. There is no wavering in God’s Word; the Holy Bible is not just some collection of men’s writings with errors; it is the INERRANT and INFALLIBLE Word of God!

If you cannot get yourself to embrace this universal truth then you will never (let me repeat that), NEVER find “your best life now”! Again hear what David has to say of God’s Word:

    “The words of the LORD are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.” (Psalm 12:6)

We have all been hurt in life; we struggle at times to get by…to cope with living in a fallen world. We trust in people, in politicians, even in property to protect us but all these things are of people when we should be trusting in God. David said that God “is a shield for all WHO trust in him.” The NIV translates “trust in Him” as “take refuge in him.”

Many of you wrote me encouraging notes when I announced I was resuming writing this devotion; some of you commented on my ability to bring light to Scripture and challenge you. I acknowledge that God has given me a talent to write and the spiritual gift of discernment, but I have invested 12 years of intensive Bible study to attain knowledge and wisdom. This is not to pat myself on the back but to show you that sweat equity is expected of you; you must spend time in your Bibles.

Beloved, we are going to take a journey through the Bible looking at God’s Word, its value to us; its view on us; and its victory for us.

So it is time to dust off your Bibles and open them up; you can start by reading Psalm 18. If you don’t have a Bible for now you can hit the link and read Psalm 18. But I encourage you to purchase a Bible because there is no better way to spend time then reading your Bible. If you cannot afford one right now please let me know and allow me the pleasure of giving you a Bible.

I leave you with a quote from Charles Haddon Spurgeon; may his words become our heart cry.

“Some people like to read so many [Bible] chapters every day. I would not dissuade them from the practice, but I would rather lay my soul asoak in half a dozen verses all day than rinse my hand in several chapters. Oh, to be bathed in a text of Scripture, and to let it be sucked up in your very soul, till it saturates your heart!”

In Christ
Dave
Ps. 37:4

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    Copyright © 2009 David Jeffers

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