The Perfect Journey

Matthew 5:48 Be perfect, therefore, as your Heavenly Father is perfect.
 
WE all know we cannot live life perfectly, so why would Jesus teach what seems to be an unreachable goal?
   In truth, Jesus is pointing us to our life’s purpose as we journey toward eternal life with God in heaven. Recall his sermon points in Matthew 5:13a “You are the salt of the earth. And in 14a “You are the light of the world.”  From there his sermon points have been the ways we can be salt and light. Fulfill the law. Be righteous. Love one another. Jesus has just taught us a list of God’s perfection. Now he says, “be perfect therefore”. In short, as we’ve learned what the Lord requires of us, we must live into the knowledge. 
   Jesus points us to what we are to become. The word for that “becoming process” is “sanctification”. To be sanctified means two things. First, you are set apart from the world, made holy in Jesus’ blood. Second, “sanctified” means you are on a pathway to live more and more obediently into God’s teachings. Your life is enriched in God’s truth and becomes life-giving salt and light. When a sanctified mind asks, “What would Jesus do?” we will know how to perfectly respond.
   Consider a sun-drenched, snow-capped mountain peak you can see from hundreds of miles away. With your eyes fixed on the peak, you see it, aspire to it and know the direction to the mountaintop. You will likely struggle and stumble along the way. But purposeful to complete the journey, you will adjust from your mistakes and come to the top.
   There is a reason mountains are often the place where God meets with his prophets and people. God’s perfection is a mountaintop for your soul. Keep your sanctified eyes fixed on God’s Holy Son as you journey toward your eternal destiny.
   Jesus’ command is also a call to faith: “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:16) A God-given faith lights your way to God. In Christ you are new, set apart from your past, free to become more and more as God calls you to be.
  
2 Corinthians 13:11 Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.