Why You Don't Have to Be Perfect for God

0:00This is Battle Drill Daily Devotional, your host, his Rob West repain of the Salvation Army. Let's explore God's Word together in just a few minutes. For more devotionals, visit BattleDrillDevotional.com Have you ever cleaned the house from top to bottom before the cleaner arrived? Or washed and waxed your car before taking it in for a service? It's all a bit pointless, isn't it, really? But many of us do the same thing with God. We feel we have to get our lives sorted before we can even talk to Him. We think we have to be good enough first. And we worry that our lives are just too messy for a holy God. It's no surprise, of course, because almost everything in our world is a quid pro quo. If you study hard, you get good results. If you work hard, you get paid. If you're kind to someone, they usually kind back to you. We are used to earning what we get. So when it comes to faith, we try to play by the same rules. We think if we pray more, if we act better, then God will love us more.

1:01But God's grace isn't like work, or a shop, or a business. In Isaiah 55 verse 1, the prophet says, Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink, even if you have no money. Come take wine or milk without paying for it. It's all free. God extends an invitation to people who have nothing to give back. He calls the thirsty, not the perfect. He offers his best gifts for free. And this is so hard for us to grasp. Why? Because it feels just too good to be true. We see this so clearly in the life of Jesus. Think again about the time that He met a woman at a well. She had a difficult past and a complicated present. She was definitely not living a perfect life. But Jesus didn't tell her to go away and fix her problems first. It didn't ask her to change her life before he spoke to her. Instead, he offered her living water right then and there.

2:04He gave her hope before she had changed a single thing in her life. Why? Because his love was a gift, not a reward. This changes everything for us today. It changes how we act at home, at school and at work. It's taken me years to learn this, but you don't have to carry the heavy weight of trying to be perfect. God already loves you. You don't have to prove your worth to Him or to anyone else. You can come to Him just as you are, with all your flaws and all your mistakes. Now, this doesn't mean that we stay the same, of course. When we receive such a kind gift, we want to live better lives. We want to be more loving to our neighbours. We want to serve our community with joy, but we do these things because we are loved, not so that we might be loved. So, here's a small task for you today. For just 10 minutes at some point today, stop trying to earn approval.

3:09Put down your to-do list. Don't worry about your faults. Simply sit quietly and talk to God. Thank Him for a gift that you could never afford to buy, and let His peace fill your heart. God's grace is free for you today. You don't need a penny to buy it. You just need to be thirsty enough to take it. Join me tomorrow for day four of this series, as we look to refresh the stagnant places in our lives. Thanks for joining us for today's Battle Drill Daily Devotional. Don't forget to subscribe and share this devotional with someone who might need a boost of faith. For more devotionals and resources, visit BattleDrillDevotional.com.